How to Succeed at Creating More Playful Adult Learning

In this episode, David Thomas and Lisa Lattuca, who wrote a book called Professors at Play: Playbook Real-World Techniques for More Playful Higher Education Classroom share the importance of creating a more playful learning environment and the benefits of taking a playful approach.

They also talk about how the current education system is under-optimized and how play can help fix it.

In addition, they explore how play can stimulate creativity, innovation, motivation, and engagement, and how it can be incorporated into the classroom and the workplace.

If you’re looking to gain valuable insights into creating an engaging learning environment and motivated, creative workplace culture, this conversation offers practical advice worth listening to in full.

Key Topics & Timestamps

• 00:02:34 – Why People Don’t Play and How Did We Get This Boring in the First Place?
• 00:05:07 – The Mental Health Aspects and the Breaks of Play
• 00:10:11 – How Play Stimulates Creativity, Innovation, Motivation, and Engagement
• 00:12:10 – Different Frameworks for Incorporating Play Into the Classroom and Workplace
• 00:14:44 – Navigating Taste and Bringing People Into a Playful Taste
• 00:16:34 – Using Games to Promote Creative Thinking in the Workplace
• 00:18:43 – Using Children’s Books as Roleplays or Case Studies
• 00:19:17 – “The Worst Idea Ever” Technique for Generating New Ideas
• 00:19:48 – Negative Reverse Selling and Using Children’s Stories for Roleplays
• 00:20:36 – The Worst Idea Ever and Hidden Word Game Techniques
• 00:22:14 – Creating Ongoing Games and Using Prizes for Play
• 00:23:54 – The Importance of Expanding Feeling Vocabulary
• 00:25:05 – The Importance of Empathy and Feelings in Sales
• 00:27:42 – David’s Experience With Failure

Key Takeaways

• The way we do education today is, let’s just say, under-optimized.
• Without play, it’s hard to mitigate some of that stress and burnout.
• Play does create the flexibility of mind and energy, of heart, a connection to others that does allow you to become more creative, to innovate and deploy new concepts, to be motivated to do stuff, but also to engage in them.
• Play is like this superpower that we have taught ourselves to be afraid of.
• Success is finding what you’re passionate about and directing your energy there.
• Play is necessary for survival, but when you’re trying to survive, play is the first thing you let go of.

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