Play Better Games

We don’t stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing

George Bernard Shaw

When we are young, we explored, played, and learnt. Then as adults, we leave the childish things behind and enter a world of seriousness. How does this make sense?

Did we stop having things to learn? Is there nothing left that created awe in us? Did the silliness and playfulness just fall out of us?

Work should be play. No one has all of the answers so that means we are still exploring. Yet, in the workplace, in adulthood, play is seen as immature. It shows a lack of conviction.

I think most of this comes down to what play is. There is a huge difference between challenge and misery. We are told that work shouldn’t be fun. Why not? Certain jobs are. Pro athletes look like they are having fun.

Work should be challenging, that is what your work and an athletes work has in common. The challenge makes it rewarding. That challenge means you haven’t gotten it all figured out. Not having it figured out means you need to explore. Exploring means you need to play within the space you are occupying to learn.

When everything is serious and there is no play, that leads to an environment that has no risk. No risk feels safe if the world doesn’t change, but the world is constantly changing, so you need to adapt to it. Not changing, or playing actually creates more risk.

Having an environment where you can’t explore ideas, test out crazy assumptions, make-believe the impossible is possible does not create world-class organisations.

In a recent interview on The Russell Howard Show the Poet, Activist, Rapper Akala summed it up best when he said – “you have got to be childlike, not childish.”