Play to Connect, Compete, and Think

-

 Why being playful builds better teams, sharper minds, and stronger leaders.

When we grow up, we’re often taught to leave play behind.  We trade it for seriousness, professionalism, and “real” goals. But what if play is exactly what we need to lead better, collaborate more meaningfully, and think more creatively?

I believe that play isn’t childish; it’s essential. Let's explore why.

🧩 Play Builds Connection

At its core, play is about interaction. Whether you're gathered around a board game, running drills on a field, or telling a story at the D&D table, you’re co-creating an experience with others. In that shared experience, something powerful happens:

  • Barriers drop. Titles and roles melt away. You’re just people having fun.

  • Trust builds. You learn how others think, communicate, and handle setbacks.

  • Laughter bonds. Humor and shared challenges bring teams closer together.

Want to build a strong team? Hand them some dice, a ball, or a weird party game—and watch the magic happen.

🥇 Play Teaches Healthy Competition

In a well-designed game, competition isn’t about crushing your opponent—it’s about bringing your best self to the table, respecting your peers, and learning through challenge. Leaders who embrace playful competition gain:

  • Resilience from losing gracefully and trying again.

  • Confidence from taking risks in a low-stakes environment.

  • Perspective on how others approach goals and obstacles.

The best leaders know how to compete without ego. Play teaches that.  It might also point out some team members who need some help letting go of that ego!

🧠 Play Sharpens Strategic Thinking

Play isn’t random. Good games are complex systems that require foresight, resource management, and adaptability.

  • D&D asks players to solve problems collaboratively and improvise under pressure.

  • Board games like Catan or Root encourage long-term planning and alliances.

  • Even a backyard game of capture the flag develops pattern recognition, timing, and team dynamics.

If you want to build smarter, more agile teams, find time to play.

🎨 Art and Imagination: The Heart of Play

Every game you love was built by someone’s creative vision.

  • A fantasy setting in D&D? That’s worldbuilding, narrative design, and visual imagination.

  • Board game mechanics? That’s system design, a creative craft in its own right.

  • The aesthetics of a game board, the music of a video game, the miniatures on your table? All made by artists.

And when you play, you join that creativity:

  • You improvise a character voice.

  • You draw your team’s crest.

  • You rewrite the rules to make a game work for your group.

Play is participatory creativity. You are co-creating the experience every time you roll a die or take your turn. And that’s the kind of thinking the world needs more of: collaborative, imaginative, and unafraid to try something new.

💡 Final Thought

Play isn't the opposite of work. It’s the training ground for how we show up—at work, in relationships, and in leadership.

So go play! Tell a silly story. Try a new game. Make something weird with your friends.
Not because it “builds skills,” but because that’s how we become more human together.

And who knows? You might just become a better strategist, teammate, or leader along the way.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

In Defense of Kindness

-
We live in a world that often confuses kindness with weakness. We celebrate cleverness, confidence, even confrontation, but kindness? That’s seen as soft, passive, and nice, but not necessary. Something you tack on after the “real” work is done. There's a reason why many go to such great lengths to avoid it. Kindness is hard work. It takes effort, attention, and no small amount of courage. And in the long run, it’s one of the most powerful tools we have for connection, for clarity, for leadership, and for simply living a better life. ___________________________________________________________________________________ It Starts with Emotional Intelligence You don’t need a psych degree to understand emotional intelligence. Most of us already feel the difference between someone who “gets it” and someone who doesn’t. It's the difference between the manager who sees you're overwhelmed and quietly moves the deadline… … and the one who asks why you're not smiling more...
Read more

A Story Shared: the Table, the Scene, and the Magic Between

-
 The halfling rogue is bleeding out. The warlock is one failed death save from oblivion. And the barbarian, raging, exhausted, and wielding a broken oar like a warhammer, stands alone against a sea hag twice her size. They’re standing on a rotted dock deep in the marshes north of Costa Sol. Lightning crackles across the stormy sky. Somewhere, far off, a strange machine hums to life in the fog. And around the table? Everyone is silent, holding their breath. I’m behind my screen, watching, not deciding. The dice are in the barbarian’s hand now. She rolls. The table erupts. It's a natural 20, a critical hit!  The barbarian pours every last bit of strength into the blow. I smile and utter the phrase every GM loves to say and every player loves to hear: "how do you want to do this?" The woman at the table, playing the barbarian gets the spotlight to describe in detail how she defeats the hag with just a broken oar.  I'll let your imagination fill that one in. The sess...
Read more

🎲 Welcome to Create, Play, Lead

-
  Exploring how creativity, play, and intention shape the way we live, work, and lead. We live in a world obsessed with outcomes: results, productivity, efficiency. But behind every innovative idea, every confident leader, and every meaningful moment is something more powerful: the The willingness to explore. To build worlds. To try, fail, laugh, and try again. This blog is for those of us who believe that art, games, and intentional experiences aren’t just hobbies. They’re training grounds for empathy, strategy, resilience, and leadership . Here, we’ll explore how: 🎨 Making things (whether it’s a painting, a playlist, or a tabletop campaign) strengthens our creative muscles, our imagination and our ability to solve problems. 🧩 Playing (from Dungeons & Dragons to amateur sports to theme parks) helps us connect, adapt, and grow in ways we never expect. 🧭 Leading is not about being in charge—it’s about curating experiences, guiding others,  staying cur...
Read more