Play, Improv and Psychological Safety.

Aims of today's session: Have the most fun, try new things, have the most turns, be the loudest, fail a lot.

That's what the slide in the second photo says.

And that's what we got up to earlier this year at the Playful Learning Association un-conference in Glasgow. Education and play enthusiasts came together to share ideas, best practice and moral support.

I ran a session on, 'Play, Improv and Psychological Safety'.

What did we get up to?

We played... 'Would You Rather: Workplace edition'. (Loud chewers vs noisy typers, 'Reply all' embarrassments vs unmuting disasters, etc)

We learned... about the key concepts of psychological safety in the workplace, how this creates the conditions for growth and a tool to measure this in teams.

We drew... our ideal planet environments and considered how we create these spaces as a group.

We played... some improv comedy games to develop our sense of safety, encourage failing in a positive way and to have fun!

I love the idea in improv comedy that it's about having the 'most turns'. I'm sure you are aware of the moral outrage of children when, 'She had more shots than me!!'. As grown-ups, we want to only have one perfect shot, with rehearsals, permission and caveated with modesty.

I was lucky to be working with adults who were up for exploring and trying new things. This is the mindset of our most innovative cultures (but don't worry - we also had an opt out clause for the improv activities).

And what landed best with the group? Was it my article from The Scotsman that we read? The two-pages of accolades I can put next to my name?

Nope, it was my human-ness. Yup, I fell over a bag. Yup, I got distracted on tangents. Yup, I admitted my failures.

This vulnerable, messy human-ness I could be embarrassed of... or I could be glad they valued that as it made others able to be brave with me...

I was sad to miss the second day, but it looked awesome and I'd recommend looking up Playful Learning Association and staying connected with Claire Timmins, Andrew Walsh and Katie Piatt to get involved in future.

Some words used to sum up the session - ‘inspirational’, ‘emotive’, ‘energising’, ‘crazy in a good way’…

If you fancy a boost like that for your team, get in touch.