play! - don't work

"I don't work, I play"
- Marcello Serpa, brazilian advertising legend

This keynote illustrates:

• why great ideas mostly do not arise in a classical working environment.
• what kind of working culture we well need to be successful and attract auspicious talents.
• how important a playful and fun approach towards idea generation has become.
• how to foster intrinsic motivation, initiative and ingenuity.
• how to combine a profit driven company with an open-minded, inspiring atmosphere.
• what working will be like in the near future: play! - don?t work.

A new age of business has just started: the age of the creative economy. The world league of innovative companies are gaining billions with products, that haven't even existed a few years ago. One of those rockstars of the new economy is Google. Every month more than 100.000 fans try to get a ticket at the Google campus. Working there is considered as big fun. On the contrary a few dinosaurs of the old economy still believe in the old saying: "buisness before pleasure!". As a result "work-life-balance" has become the credo of the last 25 years. In western civilization people are constantly tyring to find the right balance between business and enjoyment, between pressure and pleasure.

How to find the right way out?

The upcoming generation "facebook" is spending hours in front of the computer, watching videos at youtube, playing or chatting with friends. They interpret the world through screen-shaped eyes. For the games-driven generation pleasure is becoming the ultimate goal. This new generation is longing for a new work culture. A culture that is based on enjoyment, a culture that fosters initiative and ingenuity. It is no coincidence that the most innovative companies like Google or 3M, allow their employees to spend 15 to 20% of their working time in following own projects. Looking at the headquarters of Google or some american or european agencies we rather think of a playground than of a business environment. Those companies have understood one simple thing: enjoyment is king.

As easy and promising that may sound, as revolutionary it is. The new working culture is breaking up with general rules of the old working world as we know it. Since childhood we have been taught to sit still, listen and obey, not to fool around and freely unfold ourselves. Our educational system focuses rather on rational than on creative-chaotic thinking. The challenges for the new decade is to combine both ways of thinking - rational and creative, to combine a serious profit driven company with a playful and open-minded atmosphere.

Target groups:

• Supervisors, who are interested in the mindset of a games-driven generation and who like to better understand the motives of creatives.
• CEOs, project managers and HR developers who are interested in an efficient and playful working culture.
• Freelancers, creatives and start-ups who are building up a new working culture and who would like to have more fun at work.

Please contact us for more information.