Play

==== ** PLAY ** activates the right side of the brain; it is compromised of games, humor and joyfulness. It is effective in getting the job done; Play encourages whole-minded thinking, indicates emotional intelligence and has the power to improve productivity and sense of fulfillment. ====  Many aspects of Play resemble Symphony (spotting trends, drawing connections, and discerning the big picture). But it is also related to Empathy in that it can offer rehearsals for the social interactions of our lives. (Pink, //A Whole New Mind//)

// The opposite of play isn’t work. It’s depression. To play is to act out and be willful, exultant and committed as if one is assured of one’s prospects. // // -Brian Sutton-Smith, professor of education [emeritus], University of Pennsylvania //

There was a time when play wasn’t valued in business at all. Take the Ford Motor Company of the 1930s and 1940s. Work and play were a toxic combination. British management scholar David Collinson recounts:

In 1940 John Gallo was sacked because he was “caught in the act of smiling,” after having committed an earlier breach of “laughing with the other fellows,” and “slowing down the line maybe half a minute.” This tight managerial discipline reflected the overall philosophy of Henry Ford, who stated that “When we are at work we ought to be at work. When we are at play, we ought to be at play. There is no use trying to mix the two.” (Pink, // A Whole New Mind // )


 * COMPANIES VALUING PLAY ** - Zappos & Southwest Airlines

Today, **Southwest Airlines**, is one of today’s most successful carriers, earning a regular profit each year while others do not. The company’s mission statement reflects their philosophy, “People rarely succeed at anything unless they are having fun doing it.” This modus operandi has caught on in other businesses as well. According to the //Wall Street Journal//, more than fifty European countries believe in “Serious Play,” a technique that uses Lego building blocks to train corporate executives.
 * [|Southwest Commercial 1]
 * [|Southwest Commercial 2]
 * [|Southwest Commercial 3]

Articles:
[|Your Culture Is Brand] by Tony H sieh, CEO of Zappos

The importance of GAMING as well as HUMOR, LAUGHTER and JOY...
=Videos: =
 * === Piano Stairs - [|The Fun Theory] ===
 * ===[|The Reading Terminal Market in Philadelphia and Operatic Fun] ===
 * ===[|Frozen at Grand Central Station] ===

= = =Activities: =
 * =Hereeeeee’s the Punchline! (What’s the joke?) =
 * ====Apples to Apples ====
 * ====New York Times Cartoons ====
 * =[|Lumosity] and [|Invention at Play] =