Play
What is it to us?
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Play is participatory, sensory, and irresistible. Play is the way we learn about the world in our formative years and the way we discover new experiences in adulthood.
Why Play?
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Most of us think of adult play as respite or indulgence, but having fun is no trivial pursuit. In fact, it's crucial to our mental creativity, health and happiness.
Play at work?
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Play-based practices have the potential to be transformative allowing us to envision new possibilities. Science is discovering is that play activities are central to our development, shaping our brains, making us smarter and more adaptable.
In business, attitudes towards play are typically quite cynical. Many CEO's view work and play as mutually exclusive. Many hold the preconception that work is not supposed to be fun. As NIFP state, 'the knowledge and ethic to support play-based practices that create innovative, problem solving work teams are virtually non-existent in organisations today.'
Yet the scientific proof becomes more convincing and more robust than ever. A researcher associated with NIFP, Marian Diamond, in her Response of the Brain to Enrichment work describes how "enriched" (read playful) environments powerfully shape the cerebral cortex - the area of the brain where the highest cognitive processing takes place.
Read Tim's article on What is 'employee engagement' discussing the benefits of play.
This was last modified by Johan on 6th January 2009
