Learning to Play Again
Why we need to play pretend at work... and how to get started
We spent hours together, exploring what the future might hold. We didn’t worry too much about being correct. Rather, we imagined what could be. The energy shifted from contemplative to excited to contentious, and back around again. We went down one pathway for a bit, then shifted course and tried another. We lost track of time and deadlines, and that was okay for awhile.
What comes to mind when you read this? I’m actually describing a project I worked on while at Zeus Jones. And while describing this project brings back wonderful memories, I also remember how impactful the work was for our client. This project was not a joyful detour. It was an effective pathway to building a playbook for the future our client could rally around.
In my observations since, such experiences are the exception to the rule in most workplaces today. I believe most workplaces are missing a huge opportunity: The opportunity to enable adults to play at work.
What Spider-Man Showed Me
As children, we learn through play. And not just any type of play: Pretend play. According to Alison Gopnik, professor of psychology and author of The Gardner and the Carpenter, playing pretend is a uniquely human activity. And it’s an activity human children deliberately practice in order to learn:
“Rats and foxes and kids play rough-and-tumble, and crows and dolphins and kids play with things. But human children also play in a way that is more unusual – indeed, quite possibly uniquely human. They pretend.”
“Why do they pretend? Pretending is closely related to another distinctly human ability, hypothetical or counterfactual thinking— that is, the ability to consider alternative ways that the world might be. And that, in turn, is central to our powerful human learning abilities.”
I have two boys under five, so observing pretend play is a top activity of mine. With Gopnik’s words in mind, I took a closer look at a recent game of superhero occurring in my living room, and there it was: Older brother kicked things off by suggesting various superpowers to little brother, and both were on their way to testing out their web shooting abilities and invisible powers. As they bounced around the room (and furniture), a healthy debate filled with suggested powers and resulting actions ensued. In their wake I watched toys, blankets and pillows move across the room. Any sense of time or awareness of physical reality was suspended, for the time being. At a glance one might see a messy living room and some kids who should NOT be jumping off the couch. But looking closer, there it was: A science experiment.
When kids play pretend, they are doing experiments. From the outside it looks like a mess, but they are creating hypotheses, or images of how the world might work. They are testing each out, learning which of hypotheses have merit and which do not, forming new ones, experimenting more, and on they go.
Through pretend play, children develop the ability to imagine how the world might be, and the skills to go forth in building the world they desire. If we adults want to build a better world, we gotta know how to play pretend.
Creating conditions where superheroes are welcome
It seems we lose the ability to play—particularly pretend play—as we get older. From kindergarten on, the vast majority of us aren’t regularly exposed to environments that create space for nor reward pretend play. And while the systems that heavily influence our lived experiences do not embrace play, this is not a piece about our education system nor capitalism. This is an attempt to help individuals play pretend a bit more within their work. In reading up on the evolution of play and experimenting (or playing around!) with various conditions in client work sessions, I’ve come to think that by cultivating the right conditions, we can invite pretend play into our work:
A safe, caring environment. Children and animals only play when they feel safe and cared for. When an animal is stressed or starved, play diminishes. Same goes for adults: In order to fully explore and express their own ideas, adults need to feel safe and cared for. They need to feel psychologically safe, meaning they trust and feel respected by those around them. More basic needs cannot be forgotten either. Food and rest? Without them, the imagination is dampened.
Time for experimentation. When animals and children play pretend, it may look like a mess, but there is actually thoughtful structure, akin to a scientific experiment. But the hypothesize-test-learn-hypothesize cycle takes time. In order to fully employ counterfactual thinking in the workplace, adults need time to run a series of experiments, to learn from said experiments, and then to apply those learnings forward. Imaginative solutions are never nailed on the first go. They emerge byway of failed experiments.
Permission to disagree. When kids play pretend together, they bicker over the details of their imagined world. They are working out varying perspectives and ideas. To create anew, we need to lean into the contradictions that exist between one idea and another. Yet adults in the workplace often either shy away from conflict, or approach it in a combative manner. We need to actively create spaces where heated, constructive disagreement can occur. It’s only by digging into disagreements that entirely new hypothesis – and ultimately innovations – emerge.
So what can you do if you want to invite pretend play (and more imaginative problem solving) into your workplace? Perhaps an experiment with play is in order. Can you identify a project or initiative, however small, where you could experiment with play?
We facilitate worksessions! One of our favorite types of engagements is workshop facilitation. We design a custom experience to help your teams solve a particular problem, while building a new skill along the way. Learning to play and beyond, we welcome the opportunity to talk through challenges and seeing if a workshop would help your team progress.