Last week I unpacked Owen Schaffer’s research on flow—the 7 conditions cited in Ikigai.
The recap: every condition assumes the path is already known. Know the task. Know the method. Know the metrics. Match skill to challenge. Execute.
That’s flow for optimization. The research doesn’t measure originality, divergent thinking, or creative output. It defines a state specifically void of new thinking.
So if Schaffer’s flow is about efficiency—what’s the flow state that drives innovation?
Quantum Surfing. 🌊
Think of an actual surfer.
She knows where she wants to go—the shore, the barrel, the sweet spot. But the wave has never existed before. She can’t plan the route. She reads, responds, cuts, redirects.
The innovation is in the navigation—and in the breakthroughs that emerge along the way.
Schaffer’s flow requires knowing what to do before you begin.
Quantum Surfing requires staying open to what emerges.
One is execution. The other is discovery.
Both involve immersion. Both dissolve time. But they’re powered by completely different engines.
Schaffer’s flow optimizes performance within a defined system. Quantum Surfing enables leaps forward—the breakthroughs that happen when you’re willing to discover the path rather than execute a pre-planned one.
This is the flow state for founders navigating uncertainty. For leaders making calls when the data is incomplete. For anyone whose work lives between vision and the unknown.
You don’t need to know how. You need to know where—and ride what emerges.