Creativity at Work Newsletter December 2008
Play
“What do most Nobel Laureates, innovative entrepreneurs, artists and performers, well-adjusted children, happy couples and families, and the most successfully adapted mammals have in common? They play enthusiastically throughout their lives. — What common denominator is shared by mass murderers, abused children, burnt-out employees, depressed mothers, caged animals, and chronically worried students? Play is rarely or never a part of their lives.”
— Stuart Brown, Institute of Play
I’ve been invited to participate on a panel to explore play and its relationship to business, design and society at Syracuse University, Feb 11. so my thoughts at the moment are steeped in the notion of play.
Play might sound frivolous in the face of the economic downturn we are contending with, but it may well be the catalyst that frees our imagination to conceive a sustainable future in business, economics and society. Through play we open our receptivity to imagination, intuition and daydreams. Solutions that seemed so evasive earlier now appear effortlessly in the midst of play.
Diane Ackerman in her book Deep Play writes a beautiful passage worthy of contemplation this holiday season.
Play is an activity enjoyed for its own sake. It is our brain’s favorite way of learning and maneuvering. Because we think of play as the opposite of seriousness, we don’t notice that it governs most of society—political games, in-law games, money games, love games, advertising games, to list only a few spheres where gamesmanship is rampant…
The spirit of deep play is central to the life of each person, and also to society, inspiring the visual, musical, and verbal arts; exploration and discovery; war; law; and other elements of culture we’ve come to cherish (or dread). Swept up by the deepest states of play, one feels balanced, creative, focused. Deep play is a fascinating hallmark of being human; it reveals our need to seek a special brand of transcendence, with a passion that makes thrill-seeking explicable, creativity possible, and religion inevitable.
Perhaps religion seems an unlikely example of playing, but if you look at religious rites and festivals, you’ll see all the play elements, and also how deep that play can become. Religious rituals usually include dance, worship, music, and decoration. They swallow time. They are ecstatic, absorbing, rejuvenating. The word “prayer” derives from the Latin precarius, and contains the idea of uncertainty and risk. Will the entreaty be answered? Life or death may depend on the outcome.”
Deep Play is available at Amazon
Cross-cultural anthropologist Angeles Arrien in her book The Fourfold Way, reports that in some cultures when someone is feeling ill, the shaman asks, “When did you stop dancing? When did you stop singing? When did you stop being enchanted by story? When did you become uncomfortable with the sweet stillness of silence.” Good questions.
Make an arts covenant this season and let the arts be a catalyst for transformation in your life. How? Turn off Twitter etc and be present in the moment. Listen deeply, be curious and let your spirit and senses guide you.
See also:
Top Ten Reasons to Play
Please let me know if you would like to book me for a talk or workshop while I am in New York State Feb 12-14.
Please join me at Royal Roads University in the New Year for two public workshops:
Whole Brain Thinking
Jan 22 & 23, 2009
Now is the time to get creative and find new opportunities amidst turbulence. Develop your ability to perceive the world in new ways, to find hidden patterns, to make connections between seemingly unrelated phenomena, and to generate solutions. Explore the strategic dimensions of Whole Brain Thinking and learn practical tools and techniques that integrate right-brain imagination, artistry and intuition with left-brain logic, analysis, and planning.
Please Register By: Thursday, January 8, 2009
The Artful Leader
Date: Thursday, February 19, 2009
The arts take us on adventures in creative expression that help us safely explore unknown territory, overcome fear, and take risks. We can transfer these learning experiences to the workplace. Art-making has an alchemical effect on the imagination taking people out of the realm of analytical thinking and into the realm of silence, reverie, and heightened awareness. This workshop explores the arts as a metadisciplinary catalyst for transformation in culture, creativity, identity, and your own personal development as a leader. No artistic experience required!
Please Register By: Thursday, February 5, 2009
Are you on Facebook?
Become a fan of Creativity at Work. and The Creative Economy in Canada (This group was started during the 2008 Canadian election, and now that it is over, I invite you to add your news items about the creative economy world-wide. After all, we are all interconnected.)
Business Coaching
Wouldn’t you love to talk about your work with a trusted thinking partner?
Most leaders and managers don’t have anyone they can talk to about their workplace challenges. As a confidential thinking partner, I can help you find clarity, discover new perspectives, make informed decisions, and formulate strategies to help you achieve your goals. Click here for details
or give me a call at 604-327-1565
——————————————————————————————
May this holiday season bring you peace, joy and the gift of deep play with your friends, family and community. May your hopes and dreams guide you in co-creating a New Year that nourishes and sustains our evolving world.
Happy creating,
Linda Naiman
—————–
Creativity at Work is a consulting, coaching and training alliance at the forefront of creating transformational change in organizations. Our focus is on leadership and team development, creativity, collaboration, and cultivating environments that foster innovation. We use artistic processes in concert with dialogue, weaving right-brain imagination with left-brain logic and analysis to help you uncover breakthrough solutions.
About The Creativity at Work Newsletter
The Creativity at Work Newsletter provides overviews of new research in creativity and innovation, ‘best practices’ of leading organizations, links to new or relevant websites and an array ideas and techniques from innovation experts. Please forward this newsletter to friends and colleagues.
[...] Thanks to Linda Naiman for this quote in her newsletter: [...]
I like this post. I think the seriousness of play is often overlooked. When writing our own leadership book when constructed a chapter on “fun at work” wherein we touch the outside edges of where I think you are going with the concept of play. On further reflection, an updated edition has to take this chapter much more seriously.
I think the “Play” paradigm makes a lot of sense, and enables us to “see” things through a whole new “lens”. Work is an “interplay” of relationships, tasks, happiness and goals wherein tasks often take priority. Friends and Family is a similar “interplay” as well… although, relationships often take priority. The key common denominator: Are you having fun? Are you enjoying playing? The ones who have fun and enjoy the most do very well.
Thank you for sharing your insights. I will be checking again as you develop the “Play” side of creativity further.
Thanks for your comments. It’s always gratifying when my newsletter evokes a reflective response.