The Importance of Play

French design site Fubiz published an article on an a giant inflatable toy for adults. The  installation appears to be a giant balloon filled with netting to climb and bounce on. It looks fun and made me ask the question: when was the last time I played? I bought some Nerf guns for my office one time and got some dirty looks from other team members in my office. You could tell that they did not appreciate the $40 investment that I made for my team to play. My coworkers are not alone in their perception in the uselessness of play. Margarita Tartakovsky is an associate editor on psychcentral.com and notes that, "Play is perceived as unproductive, petty or even a guilty pleasure" for adults. But there is more to play than this. The dart-shooters added a vital component to our working environment. It helped bring out team together and established an air of levity to our otherwise busy work schedule.

When was the last time you played?

Tartakovsky believes that play is, "vital for problem solving, creativity and relationships." The problem is that our peers do not always value problem solving, creativity, and relationships as essential to a productive team. I challenge you to play people: do something fun for the sake of having fun. You can read the article by Fubiz here (if you can read French) or just check out the cool pictures.