"I mean literal play. The kind that is open-ended, imaginative, and unconcerned with outcomes. In my decades as a play designer and educator, I've watched executives, engineers, and designers from companies like Google, Nike, and Lego light up when they are given permission to play again. Not because they suddenly "learned" to be creative-but because they remembered they already are."
"Those three elements are exactly what today's teams are missing. When I lead workshops, I don't hand out another strategy framework or ask people to brainstorm. I hand them Rigamajig planks or a pile of cardboard and say, "Create something." That's it. No rules, no rubric. At first, people fidget, waiting for the "point." Then they loosen up. They laugh. They collaborate without titles or hierarchy. They invent."
Literal, open-ended play that is unconcerned with outcomes can counter burnout and revive creativity. Free play—spontaneous, nonhierarchical, and outcome-free—encourages embracing possibility, releasing judgment, and reframing success. Providing physical materials like Rigamajig planks or cardboard with no rules creates environments where people laugh, collaborate without titles, and invent. Play functions as permission rather than performance, retraining adults to experiment and rediscover curiosity. Productivity hacks focus narrowly on controlling processes and outcomes, which sustains exhaustion and disengagement. Integrating play into teams fosters collaboration, reduces performance pressure, and unlocks inherent creativity.
Read at Fast Company
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