by Ben Ross | 10 Aug 2017 | Play at Work
One of the things I coach clients on is how to add more play into their work. Everyone loves the idea… but thinks they can’t do it. “I’m not paid just to mess around” – they say. Or: “Work isn’t fun!” Most people simply imagine that adding some extra play into their...
by Ben Ross | 13 Jul 2017 | Play Philosophy
I find the way that people don’t generally think of activities as ‘Play’ quite strange. People are very happy to say that they are ‘at work’, but they’ll rarely describe themselves as ‘playing’ – except as a description of messing about or trying something new. But...
by Ben Ross | 6 Jul 2017 | Play Philosophy
We’re living in an age with extraordinary change occurring in the workplace. While we’re all very aware of the downsides of automation and job losses, some are asking whether it has to be all negative. For generations people have asked when the propensity for...
![Is Advocating Play at Work Propaganda for Oppression? [Guest Post]](http://benzross.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/chaz-mcgregor-542-8.jpg)
by Ben Ross | 28 Jun 2017 | Uncategorized
Today I read the article ‘Work Isn’t the Opposite of Play’ by Ben Ross, and though I agreed with the premise, reasoning, and conclusion, I did take exception to the sentence “Further, I’d argue that to be really good at work you have to play at it.” My inference from...
by Ben Ross | 22 Jun 2017 | Uncategorized
One of the fun things about working in Play is that you get to tell people ‘I work in Play‘. Reactions vary wildly. It’s good to see, though, that many believe that the ‘defence of play’ has already been won. When I say to these people ‘Play Isn’t the Opposite of...
by Ben Ross | 13 Jun 2017 | Uncategorized
What I’ve learnt from my 100 Days of Play #1: Play has its own gravity! There were a few days during my challenge where I felt like I’d had enough. Various people had suggested to me that play can’t be scheduled and that it has to be spontaneous. I didn’t think that’s...
by Ben Ross | 18 May 2017 | Uncategorized
A question I get asked fairly is often is – fun aside – what can you really do with play? They’re a variation on a theme, said in a way that implies it’s good and all “…but where do you go with play?” They’re asking: Play seems great. We love it. It’s fun. But it’s...
by Ben Ross | 11 May 2017 | Uncategorized
At CounterPlay 2017 I had the honour of hosting a workshop with the conference’s participants in which we explored the impact that adding elements of Play would have on worklike tasks. It was a bit different undertaking such explorations with already onboard ‘Play...
by Ben Ross | 8 May 2017 | Uncategorized
With CounterPlay, the Danes are providing a blueprint for the Playful Society. The annual conference / festival of play takes place in Aarhus (pron: ore-huss), 2017 European Capital of Culture. It brings together play practitioners, academics, followers and thinkers...
by Ben Ross | 28 Apr 2017 | Uncategorized
The most admired quality in ‘play people’ seems to be when they have a game for any occasion. I think everyone has this in them, however, and you rarely need anything special to hand to play. Here are five of my favourite activities to play with no extra equipment...
