Playfulness has an important place in the world of work and can lead to better work outcomes. Just as children learn through play, elements of playfulness can be brought into a work environment, to stimulate higher levels of performance, creativity and innovation.
Children are relentlessly curious in their pursuit of knowing and understanding the world better. They learn and develop through play. As you grow older, there can be a tendency to lose this playfulness. Phrases such as “grow up” and “get real” are common. There is a tendency to take everything very seriously. What you don’t realise is that this attitude may be doing more harm than good.
Few would argue that Einstein was a genius – and his mischievousness contributed to that genius. He wasn’t afraid to experiment, ask questions and “play”. He approached the world with relentless curiosity, which led him to uncover amazing scientific breakthroughs.
In the course of work and solving complex problems, you will inevitably come up against repetition and the mundane, until you hit upon the solution. This repetitiveness can be demotivating. But when you make it into a game – you shift your perception. And by shifting your perception, you see new ways to achieve a result, which opens new possibilities.
Here are some of the benefits of play at work…
Play activates the dopamine system in the brain
This is the neurotransmitter in the brain that is associated with feeling good. It is involved in the brain’s reward system, and when triggered, it can help to increase motivation.
In other words, when your motivation is lagging at work, play and laughter can help to give a much-needed reboot.
Dopamine along with the release of endorphins from play enhance neuroplasticity, making the brain more receptive to learning and embedding new skills. Through play you can rewire the brain to create new neural pathways (very useful if you are looking to build new positive mindsets and habits).
Play primes learning and emotional regulation
The hippocampus is the brain’s learning and memory centre. When this is activated through play, you can encode new patterns more effectively.
When training is made fun, everyone feels so much better, the messages stick, and people want to come back for more.
The amygdala when activated by a perceived threat or stressor at work primes a “fight or flight” response. However, when you are engaged in “play”, this provides a safe environment for positive emotional processing. In other words, play encourages emotional neutrality.
When you have more control over negative emotions, this means that you are more able to make objective, rational decisions. Conversely, a state of emotional reactivity impairs the function of your pre-frontal cortex, which is the brain’s centre for analysis, decision making and complex planning.
Play and creativity
It is common in the workplace that you can get stuck in certain ways of doing things. However, as the world continues to change at a rapid pace, innovation and fresh thinking will be key to standing out.
Play can help leaders and teams let go and challenge their usual way of thinking. When absorbed within it, it starts to encourage the “flow state” – a state associated with optimal performance, new thinking and breakthroughs.
Often playing at something completely different stimulates creativity. Einstein believed in “combinatory play” – you take unrelated ideas and use it to spark new insights. He was known to play the violin and the piano to help him with his scientific thought processes. It is no accident that many highly successful people have a passion hobby, that also helps stimulate insights used in a work context. Whether it’s video games, music, or sports. By switching off the active brain and playing with something new, you create space for new insights to come in.
I have talked before about how AI has a potential downside of reducing diversity of thought and originality. Through play, the opposite is true. Play has the potential to stimulate divergent thinking, outside of conventional boundaries.
Incorporating play into work
First, outside of work, do things that are fun and playful just for the sake of it. High performers are often so focused on achieving things that they completely forget to have fun. If you want a restful reset and a motivation boost, it’s important to spend time doing things just because you enjoy them. And this has the added benefit of sparking new insights and ways of thinking in the areas where you want it the most.
Second, as much as you can in a work environment, incorporate fun into group meetings and calls. Make meetings and training interactive. Bring in elements of play. Especially when you’re trying to be innovative or creatively problem solve, you can incorporate elements of “non work” into a meeting first to speak creativity and/or simply choose to approach questions in a less serious way (play with “What if…?” scenarios), to encourage more original thinking.
Sara Sabin is a qualified accountant, former start-up founder, thought leader and an executive leadership & intuition coach. She writes regularly for Entrepreneur Magazine’s Leadership Network and Fast Company and is a sought- after commentator for her industry.
Sara guides clients through the intersection between neuroscience, strategy and intuition - how they work together to create extraordinary results. Sara is a master at turning abstract concepts into real-world, relatable insights.
- Sara Sabin
