Someone who we were talking to a few weeks ago on the subject of play shared their perspective and we couldn't agree more: “This whole thing of work hard, play hard sounds good, but I’ve found that playing hard enables me to work smarter and better”. 

When you think ‘play’, what comes to mind?

Most people associate it with children and as we get older the words ‘adult’ and ‘play’, if used together, particularly in the workplace, has become a misnomer. But if play is such an odd thing, then consider the debate surrounding the metaverse, gamification in learning or the rise of Candy Crush!

Early philosophers, such as Plato, did not have the benefit of the science we have now and Armand D’Angour, in his article “Plato and Play" published in the American Journal of Play, explains well that Plato implied in his work: “Both paidia (play) and paideia (education) have a place in the pursuit of wisdom”. He recognised that paidia is not just restricted to children.

The BBC recently posted an interesting article surrounding play that focused on adult gaming, and much research has been done on the psychological and developmental benefits of this interesting topic. If you like to read, check out Dr Stuart Brown’s book "Play (How it shapes the brain, opens the imagination, and invigorates the soul)".

So how does this translate to the workplace or with teams of people?

Many organisations kit out the staff areas with table-tennis tables, dart boards, pool tables, Xbox and more. The intent surrounding this may have been well thought through. It may create a great environment for downtime, team-time and thinking time, however it misses an opportunity to create a deeper work/play connection. Yes, there is lots of evidence that play improves productivity, energy levels, engagement, reducing absenteeism, stress levels and turnover. Organisations like Google, LinkedIn and Facebook embrace it. But it seems that the focus is on ‘relax’ and ‘de-stress’ (treating a symptom and topping up the reserves) and it does not harness the power that play can have when combined with work - immersing it in the cultural fabric of 'how work is done around here'.

We worked with a group of people recently, providing a slot in a team build event for about 2 hours, using LEGO® bricks. The purpose was to understand more about the contribution each person makes to the organisation and the help they need in order to deliver. One participant said: “I can’t believe how much I have learned about my colleagues in a short space of time. I feel I can now relate more to them and what they do. I’ve worked with them for over a year too!”. We’re not quite sure that would have been achieved to the same extent whilst playing a pool tournament or going bowling, even if we posed the same questions to the group. But what we are sure about is that incorporating play in the work you do forms a different dimension, involves more people and creates a platform for better outcomes.

As we adapt our ways of working, there is no better time to incorporate play in the work that is done

This comes from nurturing an environment where people demonstrate higher levels of listening, ensuring everyone is heard (not just the loudest, the person who says it most confidently or the HiPPO [highest paid person's opinion]). There are many examples where organisations have involved and truly listened, resulting in significant amounts of money saved or made: British Airways saved over £600k by implementing an employee idea to descale the toilet pipes on their planes (making them lighter and thus reducing payload); Amazon Prime was born from the thinking provided by a software engineer. These businesses relied on employee suggestion schemes, but what more could be realised if a play-like stimulus was integrated with your organisation system? We know it is not practical to include everyone in everything, though more can be realised by creating intentional collaboration that enables trust, reduces unhealthy fight and accelerates innovative flight.

People carry the culture, and to quicken discovery and deeper understanding, to reach the answers that no doubt already exist, the dart board might not cut it! Instead, cut across traditional work structures and liberate your people to contribute, be a part of and, ultimately, take ownership. As we adapt our ways of working, there is no better time to incorporate play in the work that is done.

Visit www.prometheanplay.co.uk to find out more.