ON ROAD’S Weekly Editorial Roundup
'Locking in' is winning in itself
Following on from our webinar, where one of the key takeaways was that playfulness is a destination, we learned that young people are recognising that winning isn’t everything. Play isn’t necessarily the beginning of the journey towards winning; it’s the ultimate goal itself.
In other words, young people today are rejecting the pressures of optimisation culture and redefining the markers of success by embracing 4 key mindsets:
Spontaneity
Instinct
Imagination
Purity
This week, we explored how instinct and the idea of a flow state show up across different spaces for young people and why it’s still something we should lean into.
Why Instinct and Ingenuity are the Essence of Sport
Our latest piece examines how the rise of spontaneous, talented players like Arsenal’s Max Dowman is challenging the increasingly rigid, tactical focus of modern top-tier football. This trend toward uniformity and ‘minimalism’ across the sport is leading to a decline in engagement, particularly among younger audiences who are seeking out the flair and individuality embodied by legendary, flamboyant players. This demand for more dynamic and skill-focused content is driving the popularity of alternative platforms like the Baller League.
Ultimately, we argue that the concept of a ‘win’ is shifting. Success has not only been defined by trophies but also by the joy and individual artistry a player brings to the pitch. Players considered ‘mavericks’, who prioritise instinct and panache over strict structure, are becoming essential ‘brands’ that represent this valued individuality and are crucial to sustaining audience interest in the modern game.
Instinct vs Optimisation
As ‘maxxing’ culture hits the mainstream – where everything we do is in excess and designed to achieve a desired set of results – we ask whether the behaviour actually goes against our natural instinct for moderation:
“Extremity is not our natural condition. Evolutionarily, we are built to do the optimum amount of work to survive, without wasting time or energy. This is precisely what our instincts are for: to tell us when to sleep, what to eat, what decision to make, and when we are attracted to someone.”
Extremity is indeed the inevitable product of a life lived online, a space where intensity, drama and extravagance are necessary in order to get noticed. And so, as young people increasingly move away from these spaces, will we see a movement towards realignment and balance; a desire to reconnect with our instincts and find satisfaction in gentleness, without optimisation?
The Future Of Flow
When the Hungarian-American psychologist Mihály Csíkszentmihályi first coined the term “flow state”, he surely couldn’t have imagined the influence those ideas would continue to exert on global culture more than 50 years later. Touted as the key to our happiness, mental health, creativity, productivity, and even web design: flow has become a magic bullet for all of society’s ills.
But there’s a tension here. Flow states require us to forget about outcomes, yet we’ve ended up valuing them primarily for the results they produce. Is the future of flow rooted in productivity or play? And how might brands engage positively with those frictions?
If you’d like a copy of our forthcoming report on the webinar, get in touch info@onro.ad