Yesterday we had a great day filled with workshops on how create learning. We were three groups that had chosen three different themes to work with, and the execution of the workshops was just magnificent. It is really fun to arrange workshop and you feel that you learn really effective when working with a subject so intimate.
Workshops as a learning method
This is a learning method that is powerful if it is executed in the right way, but I do think that the fun part is the most vital of them all. If the participants don’t feel that they are having fun doing what they´re doing, the whole package will fall. Play is built into the human genes and should not be underestimated. It is when you can let go of the society’s norms and predetermined values that you actually can take in other people’s ideas and start developing own.
Why do we stop playing around?
Play is an intrinsic motivation that both can raise the team spirit and make learning more deeply rooted, especially when it comes to a practical workshop like the one we had. Even if you can’t give concrete bullets on what you have learned and how to apply in in your everyday life, you have gotten subconscious knowledge that will guide you when you trust your gut feeling. In my book about what motivates open source developers I have written about the importance of play.
”When a human is born, s/he is a playful being that want to learn and explore (Deci & Ryan).When s/he grows up and get a job, this playfulness seem to disappear or at least getting smaller. Why?”
Don’t let people fuck up your playful mind
I think that as you get more educated, you are accepting the society’s norm. And that norm is often not very playful, to say the least. If you ought to live in the same environment with the same expectations that a kid does, you would probably be able to perform much better. You would be more creative and open, you would be less scared to fail. You wouldn’t let others fucked up ruined minds affect your willingness to try again, and your eyes would see the possibilities instead of the restrictions. That is what play does, making everything possible. And that´s how a workshop should be designed in order to create meaningful and durable change. Always aim for the heart. If you can get your concept to stick in someone heart, she will eventually take it on in her mind as well, eventually. A human may go with her rational mind as long as you haven´t reach her heart. But as soon as you have, she will leave her rational mind behind and transform it to whatever her heart is telling it. THAT is the power of play.