Why Play Works.

Many people feel they work better under pressure, but if you need to think creatively, a relaxed environment will work far better. That’s how Dr Heidi Edmundson approaches play, and importantly makes the distinction that although play can be childlike, it’s not childish.

• We need connection as human beings, and it can sometimes be achieved by something as simple as briefly removing a mask.
• By following a step-by-step process of curiosity, Heidi became more able to trust herself.
• Trust can help overcome skepticism.
• The outcomes of play are not always directly quantifiable, but no less valuable.

• As we recover from the pandemic let’s not forget to encourage staff to take a break – a BMJ opinion piece by Heidi
• Playfilled
• Make Work Play

Tommy Crawford and Brian Fitzgerald of Dancing Fox work with individuals and organisations tackling problems as diverse and weighty as climate change and childhood cancer. But the often isolating nature of the work makes play all the more vital.

Tommy is a published poet, shamanic storyteller, and a fountain of wild ideas. Brian spent 35 years at Greenpeace, and wrote the children's book, The Moon Candy Rebellion.

• How can we find our way back to our childhoods, and hold hands with our childhood selves?
• Play can be an antidote to burnout, and a route to healing.
• An invitation can be more powerful than persuasion and coercion.
• Work with more children and animals!

• Dancing Fox
• Keith Johnstone
• Not Knowing: The Art of Turning Uncertainty into Opportunity, by Steven D'Souza and Diana Renner
• Make Work Play
• Playfilled

Our sense of culture and identity impacts how we approach and conceptualise play. Many of the black women Stacey-Ann Morris has worked with have felt a pressure to fulfil the role of the “strong black woman”.

Stacey-Ann is a learning experience designer, facilitator, and educator who creates playful, inclusive, and meaningful connections related to personal and career development in work, school and community settings. She's a graduate of Harvard university, a Lego Serious Play facilitator and has designed curriculums programs and workshops at several universities and colleges.

• Play is an act of freedom, and a way to re-integrate our inner child.
• Play is a a form of resistance, and a birthright.
• As play facilitators, we need to be mindful of people’s history with the idea of play.

• Connect with Stacey-Ann on LinkedIn
• Lego Serious Play
• Build Out Load
• Playfilled
• Make Work Play

Play is a powerful connector, transcending boundaries of culture and background. That’s the philosophy that Kay Scorah brings to her play practise.

Kay is a facilitator, coach, comedian, dancer, writer, and general polymath. Kay started work as a research biophysicist, before moving into market research and subsequently into advertising. She now runs HaveMoreFunlimited, working with individuals and groups to improve verbal and non-verbal communication.

• Set micro-challenges throughout your day, to inject a bit more play.
• If “play” feels to unstructured or lacking parameters, you can approach it as an experiment.
• The separation of work and play begins at school and permeates our society.
• How can we, as leaders, share our vulnerability and allow others to do the same?
• Allow yourself to be distracted.

• HaveMoreFunlimited
• Turning the Tables conference
• Make Work Play
• Playfilled

Play is a form of exploration, and it begins with the environment we have at our fingertips. This is Lee Kim’s approach to play, and it permeates the work she does in what we might consider one of the most serious of environments.

Lee is a design strategist and community builder, based in New York She studied mechanical engineering and fashion design. She serves as Global Congress Lead at Pfizer and is the founder of a social impact nonprofit called Design Dream Lab.

• You can signal to people to find out who’s up for playing. It can be uncomfortable to begin with, but that’s how we find playmates.
• It’s possible to make joy a core value of your organisation, even at a large scale.
• Things are more memorable when we play with them, physically.
• The things we make embed themselves in our memory.
• We’re built for togetherness.

• Design Dream Lab
• How Wearing Silly Hats Helped a Mom Find Joy – the New Yorker documentary
• Make Work Play
• Playfilled

Lucy Taylor from Make Work Play and Tzuki Stewart from Playfilled interview play practitioners, academics, and leaders who are taking play seriously.

Why Play Works explores questions such as

• How can working on serious problems be fun and delightful?
• Is play the opposite of work, or is it actually how we unlock success?
• How can reconnecting to our playfulness create more fulfilling and enlivening workspaces?

Each episode serves up playful practices that you can take away and inject into your work.