Blog
Soft Skills Development at Innovative Non-Profit
When the newest cadre of students at The Grooming Project were slated for Soft Skills development, I was asked to bring mindfulness training to the group. We started the session with the mindfulness activities Moment to Arrive, Head/Heart/Gut check-in, and SBNRR...
read moreReversED
ReversED is an event The Lean Lab, an incubator for innovative solutions in education, creates. Five local school system leaders pitched their problems: Participants collaborated to design the solutions..... in 24 hours! New teams were formed by problem/solution....
read more
It’s All a Mistake
According to Seth Godin, "it's all a mistake "...until it works. "That's what innovation is. Mistakes, experiments, mis-steps. "Until it works. "The process isn't to avoid the things that don't work. Because that means avoiding the things that might not work......
read more
“Weight Training” at Beta Blox, a Startup Incubator
The Beta Blox startup incubator is a training ground for entrepreneurs as they unleash their new businesses to market. Always on the look out for resources to make a difference to those in his incubator, Wes Bergmann, principle at Beta Blox, decided to try an...
read moreProductive Thought and Genius
Einstein thought "Combinatory Play” was the secret of genius and the essential feature in productive thought. "Combinatory Play,” he says, comes about as a result of the collection of cross-disciplinary building blocks we amass — knowledge, memories, bits of...
read more
Confabularryum
An estimated 5,000 people explored South MS in Lawrence, KS in August to participate in activities, presentations, hands-on workshops and exhibits designed to spark creativity at school, in the home and the workplace. Among the Nerdy Derby,...
read more
Team Bonding
The morning of the first day of the 2015 Lean Lab Fellowship program, Strategically Playful organized activities designed to convert stress to positive energy, create a sense of connectedness, and enliven creativity. The fellows were beginning a four and a half week...
read more
Nerdy Overnight Website Challenge
Every year, The Nerdery creates the Overnight Website Challenge for "nerds" to "give their time, talent, and weekend" to build new websites and back-end systems to support area non-profits. Project teams work 24 consecutive hours, on newly formed teams..... on new...
read more
Improv Training and Creative Development
Neuroscientist Charles Limb conducted a study several years ago out of Johns Hopkins University to measure the creative process in the brain. In his TED talk, he describes the experiment he designed that measured the brain activity of jazz pianists. He used an fMRI...
read more
Improv Course at MIT
Top tier business schools such as Stanford, MIT, Duke and UCLA are teaching improv as a method to increase collaboration, creativity and risk taking. In a recent interview on NPR, Daena Giradella, MIT Sloan Lecturer, Leadership Center, talks about success, failure,...
read more
Using Applied Improv at Ask.com for Innovation
When Ask.com began transitioning from a general search and Q & A service into a mobile focused business in 2012, they incorporated improvised play (Applied Improv) into their weekly routines. Every Friday afternoon the entire organization utilizes...
read more
Failures, Unexpected Outcomes and Attitudes
"If you are afraid of failure, you won’t try anything new,” says Tina Seelig, Executive Director of Stanford University’s Technology Ventures Program. Because creativity is essentially problem solving in new, novel and relevant ways, fear of failure impedes...
read more
Team Bonding at Yin Eyecare
Yin Eyecare provides eye exams in Overland Park and has a dedicated staff, including Dr. Yin. Some of the staff have been working together for five years and some for less than a year. We created a Spark Session over a lunch hour for the employees to have fun...
read more
Team Forming at Lean Lab
The Lean Lab is a new start-up non-profit in Kansas City, igniting innovation and reform and making education better in Kansas City. They envision deeply connected communities where all kids have access to excellent educational opportunities. The doors officially...
read more
Startup Games
When several entrepreneurs, located in several different cities, imagined that networking and connecting could be fun, Startup Games began to come to life. Startups need connections, as clients, workers and/or friends. While most networking events allow for the...
read more
How to Live your Most Creative Life
Pulitzer Prize-winning writer and Tony Award-winning actor Tracy Letts (author of "Osage County") shares his top ten ways to become the most creative self in this video. His ideas here are a bit ...creative, so probably don't listen at work (unless you work by...
read more
Maker Faire
The KC Maker Faire is always a fantastic place to experience and share creativity. In 2015 I developed a special bubble solution which allowed people to blow bubbles inside bubbles, and then invited anyone who wanted to create these new bubble formations. Last year we...
read more
Overview
We create fun experiential and developmental opportunities, as well as entertainment experiences. While the activities are based on your group's specifics, participants' muscles are generally built in agility, listening, creativity, risk taking, collaboration,...
read more
Entertainment, Events & Meetings
Fun, customized entertainment options for your corporate or organization are surprisingly affordable. Imagine entertainment, related to your industry, where your group is laughing and contributing to the show. Interaction is an option often chosen because when people...
read more
Thriving in a World that’s Changing Fast
Seth Godin's thoughts on changing your mind speaks to the inevitability of needing to change and adapt to new information, and the need for skills in being responsive. He says "It took me about five minutes to change my mind, after eighteen months of being wrong. I...
read more
About Strategically Playful at Work
We are professional facilitators, improvisors, educators, actors and seasoned business people. We create awesome experiences with activities and entertainment at your location or off site retreats, meetings and conventions. Programs include: Team Fun Having...
read more
Spark Sessions
People come away from these sessions feeling energized, newly positive, and enlivened. The activities gently challenge participants to use their brains in somewhat different ways, sparking new experiences, insights, creativity and fun. The focus of the...
read more
Development Sessions
These are most often two or four hour sessions developed around a specific skill set. Particular areas of interest and expertise in our group are the following: Creative Development Creativity is a problem solving muscle. It develops best outside the pressures of...
read more
About Strategically Playful at Work
We are professional facilitators, improvisors, educators, actors and seasoned business people. We create awesome experiences with activities and entertainment at your location or off site retreats, meetings and conventions. Programs include: Team Fun Having...
read more
It’s All a Mistake
According to Seth Godin, "it's all a mistake "...until it works. "That's what innovation is. Mistakes, experiments, mis-steps. "Until it works. "The process isn't to avoid the things that don't work. Because that means avoiding the things that might not work......
read more
“Weight Training” at Beta Blox, a Startup Incubator
The Beta Blox startup incubator is a training ground for entrepreneurs as they unleash their new businesses to market. Always on the look out for resources to make a difference to those in his incubator, Wes Bergmann, principle at Beta Blox, decided to try an...
read moreProductive Thought and Genius
Einstein thought "Combinatory Play” was the secret of genius and the essential feature in productive thought. "Combinatory Play,” he says, comes about as a result of the collection of cross-disciplinary building blocks we amass — knowledge, memories, bits of...
read more
Confabularryum
An estimated 5,000 people explored South MS in Lawrence, KS in August to participate in activities, presentations, hands-on workshops and exhibits designed to spark creativity at school, in the home and the workplace. Among the Nerdy Derby,...
read more
Team Bonding
The morning of the first day of the 2015 Lean Lab Fellowship program, Strategically Playful organized activities designed to convert stress to positive energy, create a sense of connectedness, and enliven creativity. The fellows were beginning a four and a half week...
read more
Giant Bubbles
I got a ton of attention at this year's Maker Faire because of the giant bubbles I created. Most of that attention was to get the recipe so people could enjoy making them at home. In researching how to make giant bubbles, I found bubble...
read more
Nerdy Overnight Website Challenge
Every year, The Nerdery creates the Overnight Website Challenge for "nerds" to "give their time, talent, and weekend" to build new websites and back-end systems to support area non-profits. Project teams work 24 consecutive hours, on newly formed teams..... on new...
read more
Improv Training and Creative Development
Neuroscientist Charles Limb conducted a study several years ago out of Johns Hopkins University to measure the creative process in the brain. In his TED talk, he describes the experiment he designed that measured the brain activity of jazz pianists. He used an fMRI...
read more
Improv Course at MIT
Top tier business schools such as Stanford, MIT, Duke and UCLA are teaching improv as a method to increase collaboration, creativity and risk taking. In a recent interview on NPR, Daena Giradella, MIT Sloan Lecturer, Leadership Center, talks about success, failure,...
read more
Using Applied Improv at Ask.com for Innovation
When Ask.com began transitioning from a general search and Q & A service into a mobile focused business in 2012, they incorporated improvised play (Applied Improv) into their weekly routines. Every Friday afternoon the entire organization utilizes...
read more