Play for Your Life

Land of the Living Dead

Have you ever had an idea haunt you night and day for years and years? An idea that won’t be deterred in spite of all the naysaying and fear you can muster? The kind of idea that sends your emotions running wild as though you’re the live bait in a zombie apocalypse movie?

Finally, after almost a decade of creating and delivering weird and wonderful concepts such as Agile Fairytales, Enterprise Gardening and even the first ever Choose-Your-Own-Adventure novel about Agile where you get to play the Agile Coach to save a failing Agile team in an online dating company, I’ve got myself a puppy.

Not the furry, lick-your-face-silly kind. Meet The School of Play, my new puppy of a startup, dedicated to promoting happier adulthood through lifelong play. The School of Play is a popup school where we inspire and enable adults to make their dreams come true by nurturing their inner chimp and developing their play intelligence through play adventures. Consider this your invite to play like you’ve never imagined… Not just for your survival. For your happiness and overall well-being. Play soon!

Uke the World

The Lost and Foundlings

“Without music, life would be a mistake” – Nietzsche

When I was little, I was taken to Yamaha piano classes every Saturday. I remember sitting between two mini world talents as I banged at the keys, vaguely wondering how the other children managed to translate those tadpole scribbles into beautiful tunes.

Then one auspicious day, my mum asked, “Would you like to stop going to piano classes?” To which I replied, “Yes!” And that was one of my earliest memories of the sweet taste of liberation. And many other things besides.

The conclusion from this experience was stored in perpetuity in my brain’s computer. Because my computer was efficient, it readily replayed its recorded message at every opportunity: “I am not musically talented. I will never play a musical instrument. I cannot sing…”

… Until the day came when I became a parent and learned that, as a parent,”You can only give what you have”. Suddenly, from across the misty distance of time and space, I heard the familiar sound of banging keys and I was paralysed with fear. Of not being good enough. And this time, my child’s fate is at stake.

Then somewhere from deep within me, amidst my chilling and profound sense of loss, a gentle and defiant voice spoke up. “Wouldn’t it be nice to make my own music? To sing and play with all my heart?”

Without knowing how or when that wish would come true, the most important thing had happened, a pre-requisite for all wishes before they can come true: my heart had made a wish.

Within days, my friend Vira offered me the gift of music in the form of the ukulele so that I could share music with my little girl. And what better way to celebrate life than by sharing the gift of song?

Play for Your Life

I hope you’ll be able to join our uke jam keynote (our uke troupe’s called The Lost and Foundlings) at BCS SPA on Tuesday, 28 June where we’ll be supported by The Fleas who’ll bring along ukuleles so you, too, can have a go. No previous experience required, just the willingness to play!

And if you already play an instrument, do bring it to the conference with you that day because uke jams sound even better with all sorts of different instruments!

And if you’ve always had a longing to learn to play the uke and you fancy buying one to bring along, then a decent starter uke costs around £20-£30 (we recommend Kala or Mahalo available from Amazon and good music shops). Let the music play!

The Sound of Silence

True Courage Great and Small
Silence is always accompanied by Reason.

For some, Silence is a solitary figure who has found inner peace.

For others, Silence is the one in charge when we find ourselves stuck. So stuck, in fact, that we become blocked and can’t figure a way out. So stuck that we can’t hear the alarm bells ringing that demand we take action to save our very existence.

And if we do nothing for long enough, Silence settles into our lives permanently.

And if we’re not careful, Silence drains all the colour and life from our existence. All because we’re too stuck to take the tiniest baby step forward to unstick ourselves.

While I applaud Quiet, the one who thinks before they act, the one who reflects before they react, we must do something about this kind of Silence.

One of the most effective and playful ways I’ve managed to sweep away the cobwebs is to make a din. To create the loudest possible noise, and even music, so that our bodies, hearts and minds become free to perform and sing again.

As Friedrich Nietzsche once said, “Without music, life would a mistake.”

How will you play to break the Silence?

Growing Up

Birthday Baby

A New Season’s Greetings

September has always been a special month for me. It’s a month of new beginnings, ranging from the start of a new season to that of a new school year, throbbing with the promise of excitement and adventure.

September is also the month of my birthday and I’ve had to make special preparations this year given I’m about to turn 40. The big 4-0. And I think this impending event has blown a circuit or two in my head.

Birthday Baby

Looking back, I now realise I not only suffered from acute thrisis (mid-life crisis in my thirties), I also had a similar short-circuiting experience just before I turned 20. And it turns out I’m not alone.

According to one theory about “9-Enders“, people who’s current age ends in a “9” such as “19”, “29”, “39”, “49”, 9-Enders find themselves searching for answers to the big questions: “What is the meaning of life? What is my purpose? What does it mean to be happy? What makes me happy? What’s my life plan?”

What’s more, research shows that most people respond in one of two ways when confronted by such questions. One group will become more determined to make the most of their life while the other group concludes that “my life sucks” and grows increasingly despondent.

Becoming Better with Age

Just as September marks the end of something old, September marks the start of something new. So long as we continue to stretch ourselves by expanding our comfort zone, we can keep going strong.

If you’ve become unstuck with the big questions or even small ones, or simply want to feel re-energised and inspired to get a move on with your dreams, join my friends and I in a bunch of fun-packed and thought-provoking conference sessions in the UK this autumn:

Agile Cambridge: 30 September, Cambridge, UK.

Agile Tour London: 23 October, London, UK.

Lead for Greatness

Grow Leaders

Everyone a Leader

I have a dream. I dream of my two year old little girl all grown up, doing what she loves and loving what she does. She tells me how much fun she’s having at work. And that she’s great friends with the people there. And of how what she does makes the world a better place.

When I explain how far mankind’s relationship with work has come in the past twenty years alone, she laughs. She shakes her head at ideas such as “putting people first”, “Intent-Based Leadership“, “self-actualisation” and “collaboration”.

She tells me, “It all sounds like common sense, Mama. Why would people want to live and work any other way?”

I reply, “Because all too often, common sense isn’t common practice, Darling. And even though some ideas sound simple, they’re not easy to implement.”

She asks me to tell her the Ship story, of how long ago I made a wish to learn how to lead. And how one day, I met a former U.S Navy submarine captain who gave his power away to turn his ship around, taking his crew and boat from poor performance to greatness.  And of the leadership course that transformed the way I live and lead.

My grownup little girl turns to me and says with a bold and brave smile, “I intend to… make the most of my life because anything less would be a waste of the gift you have given me.”

And with that, we hug and I look forward to a brand new adventure of making more dreams come true.

Playmakers Assemble!

Play at Work

The Meaning of Life

Did you know that in Chinese, the word “business” is made up of two characters that translate to “meaning” and “life”?

Given that we spend more than 70% of our waking hours doing work or work-related activities, don’t you wish we could all make more of our meaning of life?

Come join me in an interactive presentation on Play to help take you and your team from good to great:

Learn more about how to transform work through play complete with my talk and presentation at the Playmaking site!

Thanks to everyone at Playcamp London for their enthusiasm for play and learning. Play, like Change, begins with ourselves.

Time for Play and Work

Time for Play

Calling all Players…

Consider this your very special invitation to Playcamp London on 24 March 2015!

What’s Playcamp?

Playcamps are one-day regional conferences celebrating the use of Innovation Games® and other serious games for problem-solving in both the public and private sector. These events capture the best of traditional conferences and unconferences through a mix of compelling speakers and attendee-driven content, and include both in-person and online forms of serious play.

Why play at Playcamp?

  • Learn about how play can help you bring about positive change at work and deliver more value.
  • Play and learn games that can help you with your daily job.
  • Gain new skills in facilitation, problem solving, creativity and innovation.
  • Get the most out of learning from play practitioners.
  • Have fun and make friends!

What’s the agenda for Playcamp London?

Luke Hohmann and I will be keynoting and there’ll be 6 possible open space slots for you to share ideas with others on games you play to deliver more value at work. Find out more here.

Where can you sign up?

Here! Get your tickets quick! And tell you friends all about Playcamp!

What if you’re not in London and you want to play?

Check out playcamps happening around the world. And if you can’t find one in your neighbourhood, why not organize your own? Contact Luke and his team here.

Read the latest InfoQ interview with inventor of Innovation Games Luke Hohmann who’ll be keynoting as will I.

Hope to see you there! 

Sincere Seekers in Search of True Love

Free-Hugs

Years ago, I made a wish. A wish that one day, I’d be brave enough and mad enough to take part in the movement that is taking the world by storm, or should I say love? I’m, of course, referring to the Free Hugs Campaign started by one man in an attempt to reconnect with humanity.

I first came across “free hugging” during a visit to Helsinki back in December 2008. It was a bitterly cold winter, the kind that made you worry about losing a toe or two if you spent too long stomping the white pavement on your own.

I was wandering around the city after a jam-packed day of Agile training and who did I find beaming with warm smiles and arms wide open towards me but two young women at the train station?

Incredibly, these two young women were offering free hugs. To anyone and everyone.

A Wish Come True

After 6 long years, this random wish of mine finally came true. On Sunday, 18 January 2015, to my great fear and delight, I was offered the chance to give free hugs to the people frequenting Pimlico (home of Tate Britain) on a chilly winter afternoon.

And in spite of of the butterflies in my tummy screaming “No!!! Don’t do it!!!”, I knew my time had come. To connect with the rest of humanity like I’ve never dared to but have always longed to do.

Together with a bunch of well-wishing strangers in search of inner peace, I stomped the pavement and offered free hugs to anyone and everyone.

Between us, we hugged over 80 people in under an hour and didn’t get arrested.

For me, the most remarkable takeaway from that experience is that I learned more about what it means to be human in those 60 minutes than I have in my lifetime so far.

I learned that strangers can be kind and generous. That most of us want nothing more than to connect with one another. That we’re all in search of true love and when we find it, what better way to celebrate it than with a hug?

Happy Valentine’s Day!

The Boy Who Could Dream

Life is short make it worthwhile

Once upon a time, in a land not too far away, there lived a young man with a head full of dreams.

Every night he would fall asleep and tour castles in the air and see the world on one long magic carpet ride.

Every morning he would wake up, but instead of feeling refreshed, he felt sad. Sad that his dreams stayed only in his head while the carpet in his living room grew dustier by the day.

Then just before the young man’s wheeze developed into a dust allergy, he came across a rusty looking lamp at his local charity shop.

Intrigued by what the lamp would look like after a clean, he gave it a good rub.

And that’s the moment when everything changed.

The young man discovered the genie’s promise of three wishes was no more than a myth, one that the genie had herself made up to stop greedy people from wanting more without taking the time to figure out what they really needed.

And it was a long time before the young man made his first wish for he didn’t want to wish his life away.

And so it was and always will be that everything we dream of begins with a wish.

Living Agile in 2014

Christmas Message 2014

As Christmas Day draws near and 2015 beckons, it’s time to reflect on the past year before figuring out my answers to “what next?”.

Looking back, 2014 has been full of play, fun and laughter – much more than I’ve ever experienced, both at work and at home.

That’s not to say that it’s all been a lovely walk in the park. Being in the business of organisational change means there are plenty of draughts and floods, plagues and nightmares, and much more besides.

The thing that stands out most in 2014 for me is the importance of mindset. Set your heart and mind to something and magic happens.

Highlights at Work

  • Returning to work after a year of intense learning as a first time mother and discovering the Agile seeds I sowed a year ago still growing in my workplace!
  • Hearing pennies drop and seeing lightbulbs light up at an internal work conference “UBSTechConf” I helped co-chair – thanks to Ian Bond for co-chairing, the internal and external speakers for their inspiring talks and Skillsmatter for all their help and event-organising expertise!
  • Challenging people to define their own purpose at work in order to realise the goals of their organisation in an interactive talk I co-delivered at “UBSTechConf” – thanks to Tom Miller for his continued support and collaboration in growing Agile at work!
  • Achieving a life-work balance by defining goals and setting clear priorities that kept me going and growing!
  • Making many more friends who’ve helped make Enterprise Gardening more fun and rewarding than ever!

Highlights at Play

  • Getting a session on the topical subject of “Resilience” selected for BCS SPA 2015 and being invited back for an encore at Mini SPA – a recognition that “soft” topics are vital for success in IT
  • Playing with 130 participants at Agile Cambridge by giving my first ever keynote on my favourite topic: “The Power of Play” – thanks to Mark Dalgarno for the invitation!
  • Awaking Snow White at Agile Tour London by playing “Mirror, Mirror on the Wall… Why Me?”, one of my favourite Agile Fairytales!
  • Receiving feedback from readers of “The Dream Team Nightmare“, the first ever Agile novel written in the Choose-Your-Own-Adventure genre!

Making Magic Happen for You

What about you? What are your highlights in 2014? And what are your wishes for 2015?

Wishing everyone a very Merry Christmas! And thank you for reading!