Our message is simple: play encourages innovation.
The ability to put new ideas into practice – to innovate – is a key reason why organizations thrive. The best employees are attracted to work in innovative organizations and are stimulated and productive when given opportunities to innovate.
Innovation is most successful when the culture of an organization is open to learning and change, and encourages moving ideas into action.
Decades of our research into innovative organizations shows the value of play. We see this in large firms such as IBM, P&G, Arup, and PwC, and in start-ups and scale ups, philanthropists, and even governments. This play isn’t frivolous; it is serious. Play in our sense is about exploring and experimenting, learning and adapting. And it is about expressing freedom and having fun, aspects of work employees demand in modern workplaces.
As children, we learn through play. It is the way we test and stretch our abilities, it teaches us to cooperate with others, and it is how we learn about competition and rules. Fortunately, play still comes naturally to us as adults, and it is a crucial strategy for encouraging innovation. Furthermore, making organizations and work more playful improves the meaning, purpose and experience of modern life.