Laws of Play! .....and Life!

Play - the fundamental behavior of children - has been the focus of the EduSports journey for the last 5 years.

While there is enough written about Play being important for a child's development, I believe there are lessons in Play for adults - as they live their lives - personal and professional. 

Watching many kids at play over the last 10 years helped me understand some of the "Laws of Play".

Here is my shot at the Laws of Play ....and Life!   

1^st Law of Play: You play with whatever you have.

Children are willing to work with constraints. They innovate.

Small playgrounds? No problem.

Limited time? No problem.

While we should try to get the best resources possible, the game of life & business should not stop because of constraints. We still have to get things done. 

We still have to play.

2^nd Law of Play: You choose the game. You make the rules.

Children make up rules as they go – in response to the environment. If an angry neighbor is around, you get “out” if your ball hits his window.

Change the game if you need to. Change the rules to include new players, new constraints.

Don’t get stuck with how it was supposed to be done. Try a new approach. 

The goal is not to do it “properly”.

The goal is to play, learn and have fun in the process.

Careers, jobs, salaries, start-ups, challenges: It is always a choice. Every choice has its costs.

And you can influence the rules of engagement. 

3^rd Law of Play: The more you play, the less you get tired.

If real play is happening, children can stay focused for a very, very long time. They do not get tired. They do not get hungry. They do not need to go to the bathroom.  They keep playing and learning.

Staying engaged in a job, with the goals, with team members, with customers, solving problems, grappling with unsolvable problems can give you positive energy - if you choose to commit. And the more you play, the less you get tired. 

Conversely, if you are getting tired, you are probably not playing.

4^th Law of Play: The more fluid the game, the lesser the captain matters.

Fluid games (like football & basketball) do not really need a “captain” or a “leader” while the game is on. The situation creates the leader. Structured games (like cricket) need a formal leader.

Most organisations have very fluid goals, teams and roles. The leader cannot shout "STOP" and then execute things himself. 

The leader can only ensure that the best people are in the right role, spend time on aligning visions & values - and then trust the team to give it their best shot.

And improvise on their own if required.

5^th Law of Play: More scars = More fun = More learning

The scars are proof that kids really tried, took a risk and went beyond what was comfortable.

Mistakes are part of the learning process. 

If you are not making mistakes, you are either not playing or are probably playing safe.

Mistakes are fine as long as the intention was to play well and try to win.

6^th Law of Play: The more you play, the more you win.

There is no way to win if you don't play the game. 

"You have to be in it to win it"

And the more you play, the more you learn and the more you are set up to win.

Dig deeper when customers give you a glimmer of being dis-satisfied, listen hard and listen to what is not being said but implied - and act quickly to fix the issues.

7^th Law of Play: You need just one big win.

In any career move, you typically need just one big win to make a name for yourself. Once you have that win, build on it. Remember why you won. Did you work hard? Did you rally a lot of people towards your idea? Did you present the solution well? 

Do more of whatever got you successful while you add new skills to grow to the next level.

8^th Law of Play: Respect the heroes. Don’t copy them.

Each organisation will have heroes. People who are part of the corporate mythology. 

Respect them for their achievements. But build your own style.

Your context, your team, your strengths and your weaknesses are different.

9^th Law of Play: Mastery requires Practice. Lots of it.

Sport is probably the best teacher for this fundamental law – of Play and of Life.

All children understand that unless they practice, they will not get better. And their friends are getting better because they are practicing – regularly and in large enough amounts.

Build depth in whatever field/role you are working in - for however short a time.  

10^th Law of Play: The game never ends.

The child wants to keep playing. If it is too late, we continue tomorrow. If it is raining, wait for the rain to stop – if they are not allowed to play in the rain!

The game never ends. And the fun, the learning and the joy of play never ends.

To reword Shakespeare:

All the world's a field (and not a stage, as he put it)

And all the men and women merely players.

It is a game. Play.

EduSports: Lessons from Teaching Teachers How to Create Magic!

Came across this very interesting TED talk about :

"Teaching Teachers How to Create Magic"

http://www.ted.com/talks/christopher_emdin_teach_teachers_how_to_create_magic

It addresses the fundamental view that the "magic" of engaging students, of firing their imagination and of inspiring students to learn - cannot be taught. Or learnt.

Yes - it can. But we are probably not looking in the right place.

Look for the lessons on creating magic where the magic is happening. Get your teachers to attend events where your students are , in fact, really engaged.

Music concerts - watch how the successful singer engages with the audience.
Sports training - watch how the successful coach gets the kids to give it all they've got
Religious sermons - watch how the successful priest modulates the voice, manages eye contact and gets people engaged.

And let your teachers take notes. And then apply to the classroom.

In the EduSports experience of "creating the magic" of sports- over the last 5 years - with 2,50,000 school kids across 380 schools and multiple cultural, linguistic and religious contexts, we've had a few specific learnings around what it means to "teach teachers to create the magic" - and we've tried to teach nearly 500 of them:

1. Intent matters more than expertise. The background, the degree, the number of years of experience very often do not matter. The folks who are most successful in creating the magic on the ground with children are the ones who really care about creating the magic. They pay attention to the child who is struggling as also to the child who is excelling. They ensure the mood is positive but ensure learning happens. Find a way to hire for intent. Not expertise.

2. Structure helps. The best of magicians need a structure to ensure the magic is created consistently. Checklists, review sheets, feedback forms, audits, list of things to do etc - are like the large hat that magicians should have with them - if they are to pull a rabbit out of it. Else the magic cannot happen.

3. Aim for stamina. Not peak performance. Peak performance is good for a one-off event. Not for an ongoing intervention. For making a lasting impact - or for creating ongoing magic, the tools & structure should enable a consistent but long-term performance as against a peak performance but for a short duration. This also involves setting the expectations of the stakeholders accordingly.

And last but definitely not the least:

4. Learning is the objective. Not the magic. The final goal is not to display magic - but to achieve learning outcomes. Children should learn what they are supposed to learn - and not get thrilled by impressive displays.

If magic happens, they will learn.

Also, if children are learning & are engaged, the magic is happening.

It just might not be in the form you expected it to be.