HOMO LUDENS

There is a pervasive idea that work, and play are unconnected. The modern motto of many
organizations follows the notion of “Work Hard, Play Hard”. Which is another way of saying that
when we work, we don’t play. This simply is not true.

For those who engage in interesting work play often. The key is that the moment of pain is
purposeful, and the moment of play are pure. Work hard, play hard is a false idea.

The most intelligent animals exhibit the most playful behaviors (p.283-humankind).

Without play, our work loses its flavor. It becomes meaningless, unfulfilling, an energy vampire that
steals from us. Take a young kid who begins playing piano because they like to. Then they are
expected to practice, where the parents say we are here to work not play. They restrict the child from
expressing themselves and overtime the parents literally rob the joy of the activity, in this sense
playing the piano. The same can be said about writers. People write because they enjoy it and then
when they get a book deal or get paid to write it begins to change the writer’s relationship to the
craft. It becomes “work”. We see this is in all domains, where the introduction of financial incentives
suffocates the meaning and enjoyment of the work.

For work to retain its meaning there are three things that essential: autonomy, intrinsic motivation,
and play (team -greatness needs companionship).

The sequence of engaging in interesting work begins with play. It’s our interest and curiosity that
takes us to places and puts us in situation in which we discover what it is that we enjoy doing. We
don’t know if we like mushroom unless we try them.

Once we identify our interest over time, we become passionate about it, and through trials and
hardship that passion transforms into love. The one thing that remains is that play is at the core of
the work, regardless of what shape work takes. If one loses the ability to play in their work, one has
lost the interest that drove them there, the passion they cultivated, and the love they earned. The
greats in everything retain a childlike ability to play in their work, an uncorrupted way to engage in
their work that is enables them to be their most authentic selves. In this space one discovers
treasures in a serendipitous manner, that is, a treasure they did no go looking for but were prepared
to find. A paradox of life. It all seems to begin and end with play.

Work and Play are partners in crime, not opposing sides, or opposites. They are the one two combos
of successful professionals. They should be combined not separated. They should be leveraged
together to yield the greatest potentiality of the individual. The leaders, teams, and individuals who
practice this will change the game. They lift our spirits with inspiration and provide proof that we are
capable of greatness.