How Playfulness Can Boost Workplace Creativity

Could one of the keys to greater workplace productivity and innovation be more playfulness on the job?

According to Duncan Wardle, formerly vice president of innovation and creativity at The Walt Disney Company, and currently an innovation keynote speaker and creativity consultant at iD8 & innov8, it probably is (no joke).

In an article for Harvard Business Review, Wardle offers some of his tips for shifting a busy mind state at work to a more creative one. In the article, Wardle cites a 2023 study from researchers at the National Central University in Taiwan finding that fun at work was positively related to employees’ creative behavior.

Wardle’s recommendations include introducing short, playful activities into workplace routines that he calls “energizers.” An example he describes is having a participant draw someone they know without looking at the paper. An activity that can generate laughter and shift someone from a busy, conscious brain state (beta) to a more relaxed and creative state (alpha or theta).

The moment laughter is heard, Wardle says, it indicates people are a little more relaxed. This state allows for more informed decision-making while still enabling creative thought processes to flourish. Other activities that achieve similar objectives, according to Wardle, could include a quick walk, a playful question during meetings or even a five-minute mindfulness exercise.

Another practice Wardle recommends is to design physical spaces to encourage play. At Pixar, for example, Steve Jobs designed the campus around the concept of unplanned collaboration, with playful elements around the environment to promote creativity. And spontaneous interactions between people who wouldn’t normally meet. Specific rooms, like the ones Pixar’s BrainTrust use to give feedback on creative work, are deliberately set aside from main areas and designed to signal they’re safe spaces.

While not every company can match Pixar’s substantial investments, Wardle says, transforming a boring meeting room into a “laboratory” or “greenhouse” with some artistic touches could provide a physical signal that the space is meant for nurturing ideas and fostering a playful mindset.

Finally, Wardle suggests that leaders incorporate playfulness strategically into routines and at the right junctures to make them habits. Making short, playful breaks part of the daily routine, for example, can shift employees’ mindset from busy beta to relaxed and creative alpha or theta states.

Additionally, incorporating energizer activities into the beginning of a brainstorming or ideation session as people enter the room or immediately after breaks can counteract the return to a beta state induced by checking emails or other routine tasks.

And that’s some serious business.