I am not advocating that we all suddenly become flippant or irreverent to solve things, but what I am saying is that if the tried & tested are not delivering as they used to, then maybe it is time to think about what worked in the past…like in our childhoods.
Remember the days when we were all a little more curious, open-minded, malleable? When we got excited, experimented & were happy to not know the outcome before we started? Boy did we get results – & quickly.
There is a growing body of evidence that creating the conditions where playfulness is part of the process of generating solutions & solving problems in the workplace can put a real multiplier on both the quality & speed of outcomes.
Let me be clear for those leaders who like to remain aloof, need certainty & control that this is not about being childish – more child-like.
Imagine working in a team or organisation where you learn from each other, you connect, have fun & build trust & rapport. Where divergent perspectives are celebrated & you get to try stuff in a low-risk environment. Where communication & collaboration improve & the positive emotions that result have a knock on to everyone’s wellbeing. If I were being provocative I would suggest that the last time many of us found ourselves in such a place was in nursery, playgroup or infant school!
If you are curious to find out how you could introduce more playfulness (not forced fun) into how you work & in turn get better outcomes, then get in touch with me at rupert@strongerhumans.com for a free 30-minute discussion & if you want to read more on the topic then a great place to start is an excellent book called ‘Playfulness in Coaching’ by Stephanie Wheeler & Teresa Leyman
As someone with a brain far bigger than mine once put it “You can learn more about someone from an hour of play than from a year of conversations.” So, what is your plan for playfulness where you work this week? Go on, give it go…you might even enjoy it!
#strongerhumans #playfulhumans
