The powerful link between creativity and play
In this provoking 27 minutes video, Tim Brown, the CEO of Ideo, talks about “The powerful link between creativity and play.” He discusses how the behaviors learned as a kid are useful as designers; how playfulness helps develop better creative solutions, rather than adult behaviors which often get in the way of developing ideas. He talks about children and their constructive play time – building and knocking down, building and knocking down – the working with the hands, doing multiple “low-resolution” prototypes very quickly to test ideas. It reminds me of the original concept behind the journal quilts and other quickly-made small projects to test various ideas without the burden of a large time commitment.
He also talks that play within the workplace isn’t anarchy, but more of a divergence and convergence — the divergence where the play is and the convergence where things come together and are more serious. He talks about role playing to develop empathy for the situation and authentic experiences.
The talk comes from the 2008 Art Center Design Conference held at the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, California in May 2008. The video is another from TED, Ideas Worth Spreading