E12: Cephas Howard - Let's Bring Play Back!

Welcome to the first episode of February 2021! For this episode I got together with Cephas Howard, who has spent the past 12 years at LEGO developing physical and digital games, under the most recent title of Head of Innovation and Digital Play. Cephas is now a Chief Play Officer at The Play Institute where he furthers the development of products, insights, methods and practices relating to Play. How can we bring play back into our lives, both personal and professional? This is what I explored with Cephas.

The 9-to-5 culture doesn’t really exist anymore. Little by little the boundaries that protect our leisure time are being eroded. Even more so now, when we perform most of our daily activities from the same space. This kind of work-life imbalance alongside with the anxieties that the pandemic has brought are seeing depression and stress related illnesses increase. According to a new report by King’s College London and the London School of Economics, depression now costs European workplaces the equivalent of $120 billion a year. The greatest economic loss is through absenteeism and lost productivity.

In another study by Brigham Young University, teams that played a collaborative (video) game together for just 45 minutes were able to increase their productivity on a task by 20%.

So there is an undeniable correlation between play and increased productivity, innovation and sense of community and reduced levels of stress. So why are we not seeing more companies weaving play into their cultures? 

On this episode you will hear about:

1) At what point do we lose our superpower to play?
2) "Business has to be fun!" But is it?
3) Video games: engineering for addiction?
4) Is play really the opposite to work?
5) What makes Denmark a 'happy' country?

Liked the conversation? Let me know by rating & reviewing this podcast and engage in the conversation on Twitter by using #changeagentpodcast.

You can follow and reach out to Cephas via:
LinkedIn: cephas-howard-3008475/
E-mail: [e-mail]
Website: https://play.institute/

Get in touch with Baiba via:
Twitter: @BaibaZiga and @Consulting_LHC
LinkedIn & Instagram: Baiba Ziga
E-mail: [e-mail]
Website: www.lakehouse-consulting.com (subscribe to a weekly newsletter with handpicked articles, podcasts, videos and books)

Baiba is a People and Culture Transformation Consultant, whose mission is to create more inclusive and equitable workplaces through building cultural intelligence and better equipping leaders. Get in touch with Baiba to talk about how she can help your organisation with cultural intelligence and leadership development on Diversity, Equity & Inclusion topics.

Resources and Further Reads:

https://www.lifehack.org/articles/work/how-harness-the-power-play-transform-your-work-culture.html

https://www.forbes.com/sites/tracybrower/2019/03/03/boost-productivity-20-the-surprising-power-of-play/?sh=a4aba0c7c05b

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/the-power-of-play-at-work_b_12011462