At M2M we have a strategic business unit called Ignition. Ignition is a strategic thought starter unit that we tap in to to help solve business issues through innovative use of communication across all company and client business. The unit was founded by the lovely H (Harriet Frost) on the belief that our thinking can get stuck in ruts. Their approach is to force us and our clients into Deliberately Thinking Differently. An approach that is both refreshing and powerful. One of the core tools is the use of play to free our minds, and it was while thinking about the value of play at work, that I came across an interesting ongoing research study in to play that actually began with quite dark routes.
In 1966 psychiatrist Stuart Brown who runs the National Institute for play and often speaks at TED started as an assistant professor at the Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, at the same time as 25-year-old Charles Whitman climbed to the top of the University of Texas Tower on the Austin campus and shot 46 people. At the time Whitman, a former U.S Marine sharpshooter was the last person people expected to do such a thing and Brown was assigned the case to investigate why he had.
As part of the study he interviewed not just Whitman but other killers, discovering common themes between those he spoke to; they were from abusive families, and they never played as kids. Brown didn't specify which was more important in the study, but in the years since he has interviewed over 8000 people about their childhood and the conclusion he has reached is that play is the key ingredient that keeps children growing into happy, well-adjusted adults.
In his findings, free or unstructured play is what helps us become socially adept adults. It is a key ingredient that helps us cope with stress and solve problems. In short there is a strong correlation between success and playful activity. His research and his talks make for interesting listening, so if you get the time, you could do worse than fill your luch listening to the video of him talking at TED below..
So, next time you are at one of our workshop sessions and we get you all to hop on one leg and then knock eachother over, remember PLAY IS GOOD!
-Sam
