The act of playing is one of the hallmarks of childhood, but could it also be the secret to success and happiness in our working lives? CR investigates

As British playwright George Bernard Shaw once said: “We don’t stop playing because we grow old, we grow old because we stop playing.” As our understanding of the psychology behind play has developed over the years, it has become a well established part of childhood development. Alongside being fun in and of itself, play acts as a tool to help children learn more about themselves and the world around them. By the time we reach adulthood however, it comes with more negative connations. Instead of being playful, we are being silly, frivolous and, when it comes to our working lives, unprofessional.

The creative industries are much like any other sector in this sense, where the serious business of being successful often gets in the way of play time. For creative career coach Kate Rees, who has previously worked with the likes of Sky and ustwo Games, this is denying what being a creative is all about. “When we become adults we can start to really limit ourselves because we know more, we have more experience, we need to be more rational, we need to make grown-up decisions,” she says.