Creativity calls for trust. Trust calls for play.
Tim Brown, CEO of Ideo, talking about play
If you’ve never seen Tim Brown’s talk on serious play it’s a must watch. Besides demonstrating some brilliant interactive speaking techniques, Tim makes a cogent argument for why play is so important to any creative organization.
Play gets people comfortable and relaxed with one another. When we play we lose our tendency toward conservative thinking. We take more chances. We muster up the courage to share our most outrageous thinking. Fear dissipates; better ideas materialize.
In the still developing world of digital communications this matters more than ever. Creative ideas, big and small, are no longer the result of a cozy partnership between a writer and an art director who’ve spent years working with each other, who are comfortable floating crazy concepts even when they’re only half developed, and who are totally unfettered by the frequent, “that sucks,” they get in response.
That level of comfort, enjoyed by so many two person creative teams, is harder to achieve the bigger the team gets. And today, with the new complexities of digital, the typical creative team is as likely to include developers, programmers, UX specialists and social media thinkers as it is a writer and art director. That’s a lot of people in the room. Yet it’s possible that the best, the boldest, the biggest creative idea could come from the social media guy, or even the UX person. If they’re comfortable enough with each other to speak their minds and take a chance. Need help? You can always study what Pixar, Google and Ideo do. You could also get yourself a good ping pong table. But the real opportunity is to make play part of your culture.
On a separate but related note are the findings of noted surgeon and author Atul Gawande. In his latest book The Checklist Manifesto (trust me you should read anything he ever writes) he chronicles the advantages of a simple check list (like don’t forget to have pints of blood in the operating room) that includes the most obvious, “make sure that the operating team introduces themselves to each other.”
Hard to imagine that the doctors and nurses about to cut you open while you’re anaesthetized don’t know each other’s names, but it turns out they often don’t. Yet if they introduce themselves to each other before the operation begins, there’s a 30 percent decrease in mishaps. Why? The simple act of talking to one another before the operation gives people the courage to speak up if they see something go wrong.
Want to make your organization a little more creative? Want to encourage more risks? Then remember to play. Preferably with people whose names you actually know. Does your company play or have other aspects to its culture that inspired creativity? Please share.
Comments
For years I've observed a core creative team resist brainstorming with anyone else. The common refrain was, "let us go away and figure it out." Figure what out? An ad? A message? A tagline? Then they would let everyone else know what they were thinking. The flaw with this, of course, is that today, creative solutions call for so much more than a message and could come from anywhere. But that old model was adhered to because that team, was only comfortable with each other. It was intimidating to share what might be shitty ideas with others or to encounter resistance and rejection from people you weren't used to. It's hard getting people to take chances and share crazy ideas with each other unless that level of familiarity and ease is there. Thanks all for the comments and especially the references to other sources and links.
Amen. Great post and so true.
At the digital agency I work at we make it a common practice to take time out for foosball. It really does help the team relax and get to know each other on a more comfortable level. The relationships built around the foosball table are huge when it comes to being comfortable enough to speak up during brainstorms. Brainstorms are so much more effective, and fun, when you feel like you're amongst your friends.
I'd add that all work and no "play" really just creates machines. For me when you get too caught up in the same tasks, especially boring, repetitive ones, it's much harder to break out of that structure and get in a creative mindset.
Couldn't agree more on the trust issue though. Nothing can hamper creativity like the fear of being rejected that comes when you're not comfortable with your project partners.
Great stuff, Edward.
.-= Jackie Adkinsu00c2u00b4s last blog ..Top Analogous Friday Moments, Ever! =-.
Edward,
Thanks. Could not agree more re play. I believe it is hyper important for innovation in almost any industry. It is a travesty that many of us are told (tacitly or overtly) to avoid "playing" at work. Ridiculous...
You might enjoy this post from Deirdre Brekenridge on the need for checklists (she references Gawande also) http://www.deirdrebreakenridge.com/2010/01/pr-2-0-.... I think her pt re the need for a checklist is very valid for PR/marketing pros. Just thought I'd share
Edward, nice post. Why Play and Making Money became enemies, I'll never know.
Teams are hard. I've always wondered why corporations and agencies spend vast amounts of money on new biz consultants, presentation consultants and coaches instead of training everyone with Improvisation Consultants.
Think about it. The things you outlined for new people to work together require people to be open, to go with the flow, and say "Yes." I can't think of better training for creativity and collaboration.
AHHHH happy days! I was lucky enough to be one of the first employees for a radio station. Back when it was the a team of about a dozen people, we used to have remote controlled car races in the office. There was a lot of crazy stuff done back in those days, most of which I shouldn't say because they involve either drugs or nudity. Some of the most productive days of my life. I used to love going to work so much that I didn't mind climbing 12 floors on foot at 5 AM.
A great and very true post. Just to add to it, here are a few quotes on play from one of my favorite thinkers, Eric Hoffer:
"A society becomes stagnant when its people are too rational or too serious to be tempted by baubles."
"When grubbing for necessities man is still an animal. He becomes uniquely human when he reaches out for the superfluous and extravagant."
Jeff
.-= Jeff Shatucku00c2u00b4s last blog ..For love or money (part 2 of 4): College and L.A. =-.
Great and very true post. A favorite thinker of mine is Eric Hoffer, and here are two quotes from him about play:
"The compulsion to take ourselves seriously is in inverse proportion to our creative capacity."
"When the creative flow dries up, all we have left is our importance."
Jeff
www.cerebellumblues.com
.-= Jeff Shatucku00c2u00b4s last blog ..For love or money (part 2 of 4): College and L.A. =-.
Must confess I haven't read him but will very soon. Both those quotes are great; the second one is frightening.
Just realized I didn't post the second quote correctly! Argh! It should have been:
u00e2u0080u0098The compulsion to take ourselves seriously is in inverse proportion to our creative capacity. When the creative flow dries up, all we have left is our importance.u00e2u0080u0099
.-= Jeff Shatucku00c2u00b4s last blog ..For love or money (part 2 of 4): College and L.A. =-.
I heard Atul Gawande interviewed on NPR Tuesday morning. It's amazing that his ideas don't get snapped up immediately.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?story...
Eons ago I studied a creative problem solving technique called Synectics. It's organized play, built on trust. It produces great results. I don't know why it isn't used more as well.
.-= Mark Harmelu00c2u00b4s last blog ..why all this talk about diabetes & whatu00e2u0080u0099s a knol? =-.
I went to some of their sessions years ago. Good question. But as I recall they were designed to teach non-creative people (by that I mean folks who wouldn't think of themselves as such) to be more open. They had a hard time taking it seriously; that in fact is what Brown talks about, too.
I forget that Synectics was located in Boston. Perhaps the un-official version I learned was better. I recall that I looked into attending a Creative Problem Solving Masters program in SUNY Buffalo and was disappointed by that as well.
.-= Mark Harmelu00c2u00b4s last blog ..why all this talk about diabetes & whatu00e2u0080u0099s a knol? =-.
I've been playing my whole life. Now my secret is out.
[...] intelligence; instead it implores us to find our personal passion and a tribe that can foster it. IDEO CEO Tim Brown shares his insights in Change by Design: How Design Thinking Transforms Organizations and Inspires [...]