The Serious Business of Play

The Serious Business of Play

Workshop Intention & Purpose

This session is designed as a practical experiment in how play - and its related drivers:

curiosity, joy, flow, motivation, and human connection - impacts professional

effectiveness.

We’ll explore the central question:

How might discovering and working with our natural play type help us lead better,

collaborate more creatively, and thrive under pressure?

Workshop Hypothesis

When we understand and actively lean into our individual play type, we access deeper

flow, creativity, and motivation, making us more productive, more innovative, and

ultimately, more effective leaders.

Desired Outcomes

Participants will:

 Experience a range of play-based activities that support creativity, collaboration, and

adaptability in high-pressure environments

 Identify their personal ‘play style’ and understand what conditions help them (and

others) access an engaged ‘play state’

 Explore the business case for accessing your personal ‘play style’, including how it can

boost productivity, innovation, psychological safety, and effective leadership

 Have enjoyed themselves and leave feeling energised, and connected with

themselves and each other

Workshop Description

This workshop offers facilitators a hands-on opportunity to explore the role of play in

professional environments. You’ll try out several play-based techniques, uncover your own

play style, and learn how different types of play drive engagement, reflection, and creative

thinking.

By layering experiential activities with structured reflection (drawing on Dr. Stuart Brown’s

Eight Play Styles and the Seven Properties of Play), you’ll uncover you own ‘play style’ and

leave with practical tools and ideas to bring more presence, energy, and innovation into

your sessions.

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Your Facilitators

Jennie Cashman

Facilitator | Coach | Strategist | Author | Champion of Creative Potential.

Jennie is an experienced facilitator, coach, mentor, and former CEO with over 15 years in

the creative industries. She brings a decade-long passion for creative facilitation,

believing deeply in the power of play to unlock innovation, collaboration, and connection

at work. She supports ambitious creatives, entrepreneurs, and consultants who feel

constantly “on” - helping them design sustainable careers and businesses that protect

their wellbeing and fuel their creativity.

Alice Havill

Alice Havill specialises in untangling complex business challenges through creative

thinking workshops and LEGO® Serious Play®. With over 20 years of strategic

leadership for major global brands in the media and advertising industry, she

founded Tangle Works to help organisations break free from traditional thinking

patterns. Alice works with senior leaders to transform their teams' problem-solving

approaches, driven by her conviction that creative thinking is a skill everyone can

develop.

Host or Publisher Hayley Watts