The Serious Business of Play
How challenge, connection, and creativity thrive when we take play seriously.
As children, we learned by experimenting, stacking blocks, scribbling on paper, making things up as we went along. Play wasn’t a distraction it was the way we figured out how the world worked. Yet somewhere along the way, especially in the workplace, play got rebranded as frivolous. Something to save for weekends or for the kids.
This belief even permeated into clichéd business speak - ‘we work hard and we play hard’. The implication being that play belongs to a time after the serious work is done - as if these two things are completely separate and should never mix.
That’s a problem. Because the science is clear: play is one of the most powerful engines of learning, creativity and connection that humans have. It stretches us, challenges us, helps us take risks in safe ways - that’s what happens in the sandpit at the playground. Play sharpens our thinking, strengthens our bonds, and even rewires the brain to be more flexible and resilient.
And yet, in meeting rooms and strategy sessions, play is often the first thing to get squeezed out. We prioritise efficiency, seriousness and ‘productivity’. But if innovation depends on fresh thinking and collaboration, then cutting out play makes little sense - that’s like expecting a car to run on the power of goodwill and words of encouragment.
Challenge accepted - let’s play!
That frustration is exactly what Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi described when he studied ‘Flow’, which is the complete immersion in an activity that is deemed enjoyable in some way. This doesn’t mean that it’s not challenging - on the contrary, the activity must challenge you just enough to push you.
Skills must be tested. Flow activities excite us, provide intrinsic rewards and help us develop our skills. So it isn’t about drifting or daydreaming. happens in the narrow space between boredom and overwhelm when the challenge in front of us matches, and just stretches, our skills.
Play gets us there and it doesn’t let us go into cruise control. It nudges us out of the comfort zone and into a space where we’re absorbed, experimenting and losing track of time because the task is just hard enough to grip us fully.
So when someone in a LEGO® Serious Play® session frowns at their half-built model, stuck for what comes next, they’re not failing, they’re entering Flow. Pushing through that moment can be challenging but in my experience they will often surprise themselves. The model becomes a breakthrough. The story they tell opens up new insight - you’re not drifting away, you’re actually getting immersed.
YOUR brain gets a workout
What makes play so powerful isn’t just how it feels — it’s what it does to the brain. When we play, the chemistry shifts. Dopamine and endorphins light up, fuelling motivation and reward. Stress hormones drop, so we’re less defensive and more open. At the same time, the prefrontal cortex — the part of the brain we rely on for problem-solving and imagination — fires up. Neural connections strengthen as we try, test and rebuild.
In other words, play changes the conditions for thinking. It primes us to take risks safely, to look for alternatives and to combine ideas in ways that a more rigid, serious mode would block.
Neuroscientists call this neuroplasticity — the brain’s ability to rewire itself through experience. And the good news for adults is that this brain workout isn’t just beneficial for the kids. Playful activities stimulate the release of key neurochemicals (such as dopamine and endorphins), known to enhance neural connectivity and growth, and that happens even in mature brains.
Put simply: when we play, we don’t just learn new things, we are building a better brain - one that’s particularly adept at learning.
And this is why those moments of frustration in play matter so much. The brain is literally reorganising itself under the pressure of the challenge. Push through it, and you often emerge smarter, sharper and more creative than you were before.
More than a feeling
Play doesn’t just rewire the brain but it also shifts how we feel, and how we connect with each other. In play, we’re allowed to experiment without fear of getting it “wrong.” That sense of psychological safety is rare in many workplaces, yet play creates it almost by default. You try something, it doesn’t quite land, you laugh, you adjust. That’s a relief valve for stress, and it opens the door to curiosity.
It’s also contagious. When people play together, the barriers come down and things ‘soften’. Laughter becomes a kind of social glue. We notice each other’s ideas, not just our job titles as viewed through a constructed hierarchy.
“Play builds psychological safety through experimentation, leading to social connection and trust”
Consider a recent dinner conversation where I spoke with someone from the theatre world. They’d moved to a new city and told me it was improvisation sessions that made the transition easier: “Having a space to be playful, to mess up without judgement, just made meeting people and building connections so much easier.”
In neuroscience terms, that’s where oxytocin comes in, a chemical associated with bonding and interpersonal trust and that also reduces anxiety, stress, pain, and immune and inflammatory responses. The good news? Playful activities have been shown to increase oxytocin levels in adults. In human terms, we feel closer, more trusting and ultimately more willing to share - not only that but we just feel better.
I’ve seen how play not only takes the stress out of situations, but can quickly change the dynamics and energy in the room completely. In LEGO® Serious Play sessions a group starts out cautious and sometimes sceptical. Then, ten minutes in, someone tells the story of their model and the room changes. People lean in, laugh, nod, ask questions. The energy is different: lighter, but also sharper. Play has a way of making people more human with each other — and that makes the work itself richer.
Making time and space for play
And yet, for all its power, play is the first thing to get squeezed out of work.
Why? Because we mistake seriousness for substance. If something feels light or joyful, we assume it must also be shallow. Organisations reward visible effort, measurable output, and efficiency — all of which make play look wasteful, even childish.
“We haven’t got time for that” is the usual refrain, as though time spent playing couldn’t possibly generate value.
There’s also the tyranny of productivity culture and the notion that busyness equals effectiveness. Every minute is supposed to be optimised, tracked and justified. Where does play live here? It doesn’t fit neatly on a Gantt chart or into a quarterly KPI, and it might raise eyebrows when seen in a calendar nestling up against a bunch of meetings about meetings (about meetings!). The upshot is that play gets relegated to the category of “optional extras” — maybe a team away day, maybe some gamified icebreaker, but not the day-to-day work itself.
The irony is that by ignoring play, organisations choke off the very fuel they need for innovation, adaptability and connection. In the rush to appear serious, they risk shutting down the most serious engine of progress they have.
And yet the data backs up the need for a different approach - there are several statistics and numerical findings demonstrating the business benefits of play and a playful culture in the workplace.
In terms of organisational value over 70% of HR leaders report a clear return on investment (ROI) from employee wellbeing strategies, including playful and engaging workplace programs.
And when it comes to retention and turnover, businesses that foster fun at work see reduced voluntary turnover, which is often linked to almost a 50% increase in retention in some surveys.
These data points show that play - whether through fun activities, team games, or even gamifying tasks - can deliver measurable benefits to productivity, retention, employee satisfaction and overall business performance.
“Data shows play and playful activities can deliver measurable benefits to productivity, retention, employee satisfaction and overall business performance.”
Play in the age of AI
All of this becomes even more important in the age of AI. Computers can calculate faster than us, analyse more data than we’ll ever see, and even generate art, music, or code that looks “creative.” But what they can’t do is play in the human sense. They don’t feel frustration when a model won’t come together, or joy when a wild idea suddenly clicks. Nor can they improvise with others, building on a half-formed thought with a laugh and a gesture.
If you’ve ever witnessed something as silly and riotously infectious (AI is bad at silly!) as an impromptu rock/paper/scissors tournament with 50 people, then you’ll know exactly what I’m talking about. AI might be able to simulate outputs of play, but it sure as hell can’t enter into the spirit of it. Where’s the shared delight? The answer is there isn't any. Nor is there curiosity, risk, or vulnerability - and those things are exactly what make play such a deeply human strength.
So while machines get better at handling the logical, the repeatable, and the optimised, our edge lies in the unpromptable messiness of play. That space is where imagination meets emotion, where connection sparks new ideas and where surprise turns into invention. If anything, the rise of AI makes play more urgent, not less.
Designing a business that gets more from play
LEGO® Serious Play® in action
So how can playfulness be fostered at work? I recently read an article that put it well: “First, there is no need to immediately remodel the workplace to feature a multitude of gaming consoles, basketball courts or pool tables. Instead, playfulness can be encouraged through providing space for experimentation, finding fun in the monotony (e.g., adding a silly competitive element), sharing jokes and leading by example – employees are more likely to embrace and feel safe being playful if they see their leaders doing so.”*
That’s the heart of it. We don’t need gimmicks - they aren’t sustainable. As a consultant for an enterprise a few years back I can recall the redesign of a large team space which superficially made the environment appear more playful - but the same corporate rigidity and workplace conventions held sway. Needless to say it didn't work, and nor did it last.
What’s needed are deliberate practices that bring the benefits of play into the serious business of work. That might look like:
Experimenting more, analysing less.
Adding playful twists to everyday routines so they don’t calcify.
Leaders modelling curiosity and humour, showing it’s safe to loosen up.
Creating spaces where people can build, tell stories, and make ideas tangible.
This is where LEGO® Serious Play® shines. It takes the essence of play — challenge, flow, storytelling, social connection — and gives it structure and purpose. People build models to express ideas they didn’t know how to put into words. They share stories that uncover hidden assumptions. They work together on complex problems in a way that’s serious, but never heavy, and by challenging themselves they think differently and build a new way forward together.
Play isn’t the opposite of work. It’s the way humans have always learned and connected. And in a world where AI does more of the heavy lifting, play might just be the most human advantage we have left.
Interested in getting more play into your organisation?
Try LEGO® Serious Play® and see what the power of play can do you for you and your teams.
References
How neuroplasticity works
https://www.verywellmind.com/what-is-brain-plasticity-2794886
Neuroscience and Oxytocin
https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/neuroscience/oxytocin
Play at work
https://www.sogolytics.com/blog/play-at-work/
Is play the new work?
https://www.peoplemanagement.co.uk/article/1756382/play-new-work