At some point, we stopped playing. We swapped lego, dismantling tape recorders, and make-believe adventures for emails, etiquette, and quietly colouring inside the lines.
Along the way, we forgot that the way we learned as kids — through curiosity, experimentation, and creative play — is still how humans learn best.
It’s something I see all the time when working with professional teams. The instinct to explore is still there — it’s just been buried under years of referencing only what’s been done in the past, needing to get things “right”, and not make mistakes. And that’s a real loss — for individuals and for businesses.
Why Play is a Must for Contemporary Leaders
Play taps into the drivers that make learning stick:
Curiosity: Play invites exploration without the pressure of getting it perfect.
Creativity: It clears the fear out of the way, making space for real ideas to emerge.
Problem-solving: Play gives you permission to test, iterate, and figure things out in real time.
Engagement: When you’re actively doing something, you remember it — and you apply it again.
My recent experience studying the 'Master of Technological Futures' taught me that the moments I learned the most—and felt the greatest sense of joy and achievement—were when I was tinkering, getting stuck, and trying again. Whether it was experimenting with a new AI tool or building an entire programme in Miro, it was the challenge that made the learning stick.
As humans we are wired to try, fail, adapt and create.
In a world where creativity, critical thinking and problem solving are some of the most sought after future-ready skills - Play isn’t a warm-up to the "real work".
When Did We Stop Playing?
As kids, play was how we figured out the world. We built, we imagined, we failed spectacularly (and then tried again). And if we had good teachers - they didn’t tell us failure was bad — it was just part of learning.
As adults, we picked up a different message: avoid mistakes, leave creativity to the artists, and focus on perfecting technical skills above all else. That might have worked in more predictable times. Today though, it’s a liability.
In a world of constant disruption - it’s the skills we picked up playing (curiosity, creativity, and resilience) that businesses can’t afford to live without.
Why Play Matters for Business Right Now
Play isn’t a break from serious work — it’s how serious work gets better. Teams that are encouraged to experiment, test ideas, build things together and explore different ways of thinking:
Solve problems faster: because they aren’t afraid to try.
Bounce back stronger: because they know how to handle things that don’t go to plan.
Collaborate better: because they build trust through shared challenges and creativity.
Adapt faster: because change feels like an opportunity, not a threat.
Play isn’t childish — it’s strategic
From where I sit, the businesses that embrace play aren’t just more joyful work places — they’re the ones that keep finding new ways to win, especially when the rules keep changing.