By “play” I mean, of course, “work”, but in a certain mode, which, because it’s work, isn’t always fun but can be, more significantly, very satisfying.
What is play, and can it work?
Thinking back to an episode with my daughter from a while ago, I recall fondly how she wasn’t in a good mood - well, OK, that’s not the fondly remembered part; what is, is that we changed that through play. I joined her as she sat listlessly on her bed, surrounded by toys: a few cars, horses and an array of some of her smaller cuddly toys. We both just sat there, amongst the toys, for a little bit - at least she didn’t send me away. Then, on a whim, I grabbed a car and started driving it over the mountainous terrain of her duvet. The car drove up a ridge too fast and flew into the air, now swooping and banking in all of the suddenly available three dimensions. My daughter responded by reaching for a toy horse, which leaped into the air to chase the thieves escaping the scene of their crime in my car. The glint returned to her eyes.
From there the story took many magical twists and suspenseful turns, including more chases, clever distractions and arguments, as well as frequent restorative and reconciliatory cups of tea amongst the protagonists, until, at last, the horse rustlers were apprehended and promised not to do that again…
Thinking back to an episode with a supplier, I recall fondly how one of their process had proven to be less stable than expected - well, OK, that’s not the fondly remembered part; what is, is that we changed that through… well, in an engineering sense, it was through play. We sat in the meeting room, surrounded by parts, flipcharts, whiteboards, the projector and tools. Then, on a whim, I asked about one particular aspect of the production line; the supplier responded with details on that, which then raised more questions, leading to a dash to the production line itself to see for ourselves, then to modify and tune parameters, replace tools, take parts into the lab for testing, eager for results and direction.
From there the story took many developmental twists and political turns, including more trials, confusion, argument, and restorative cups of coffee amongst the protagonists until, at the end, the process was stabilised and the supplier promised not to do that again…
What just happened?
What unites these two episodes despite their very different contexts is play: both involved getting involved and getting caught up in a situation, openly and staying alert to sensing, reacting to and guiding what happens. Play is by no means a passive or “useless” activity if it’s guided towards the matter at hand: the brain is whirring away looking for signs, adapting, trying, sometimes failing (I got told off by my daughter for attempting to use a teddy as an all-powerful giant to smash open a cave), but quickly adapting again to find something that works to maintain momentum.
Play that lab report
‘Play’ has a childish ring to it, connotations of a lack of seriousness, of ‘wasting time’ on Wordle rather than writing that urgent report, and it remains true that the playful mode isn’t suited to all engineering tasks (filling out Bills of Materials springs to mind). But, with play, we can allow ourselves and our teams to widen the mental net, to get things wrong to then get them more right, to find more efficient workflows and to make work simply more fulfilling, whatever the task.
Indeed, if you think about it, what is report writing but an exercise in language, and what is language but one of our most fundamental modes of play? In writing, you’re looking for words, trying out phrases, sorting and re-sorting the order, searching for alternatives, yearning to get past that frustrating and tantalising “tip of the tongue” barrier, whilst still progressing the word count or in editing afterwards.
One level beyond that of language being a form of play is to treat philosophy as play, too, as Joseph Dunne points out in the introduction to Back to the Rough Ground:
philosophy can seriously address practical issues and be a form of play.
Later on, he expands on this thought:
Philosophy is itself a practice, and, as in the case of any other practice, it is only when one gets caught up in doing it that one can learn to get out of it what it can give
Being aware of what Dunne means by “a practice” is important: it’s that non-technical, non-prescribed art of action and interaction: it’s not-checklists (but it can be involved in creating checklists in the first place!) Play, in all contexts, is about agility, being fleet of mind, and being prepared to expand horizons of opportunity.
In my next post, I’ll give an example of a particularly rich source of ‘play’ from my experience, namely the lab.
Until then, keep playing!
