I was reading a very intresting article recently which helped me put some of my thoughts in perspective. In my experience convincing business leaders that
Serious Play as a integral part of their activities can be challenging, in fact some of them dont seem to get it! I have often had remarks that this is a new business fad. Apparently however we have know about the importance of
Serious Play for some time, perhaps we have just forgotten about it!
However
Plato and
Socrates (circa 400 BC) clearly understood and debated the necessity for Serious Play, indeed Plato mentions it specifically in his Republic.
According to Plato play appears, both as a method used in the instruction of learners as well as an activity related to educational context. Plato distinguishes between play which is playful amusement and the law-abiding play which is serious. Frivolous or non-serious play is the play which diverts attention from the educational goal of the discovery of the truth, and focusses on the dialectical activity as a sport or pastime unrelated to the pursuit of the truth. Serious play concerns itself with the goal of imbuing learners' play in music, stories and athletic games with good order that fosters excellence in the education. The aim of the educational process is the fostering of the growth and development of the learner toward the ultimate objective of the individual's contribution to a good society and the vision of the good itself.
I don't think that it has changed too much since!
If you are intrested you can access the complete article
here.
