What makes a team truly creative? It's not beanbag chairs or forced brainstorming sessions—it's about creating an environment where play becomes the engine of productivity.

Drawing from the wisdom shared by ex-Pixar executives Jamie Woolf and Dr. Chris Bell, this solocast explores how psychological safety, ownership, and freedom transform workplaces from control centers to creativity hubs. The distinction is powerful: work doesn't need to feel like work when people are in flow.

Remember the piano stairs experiment in Stockholm? When regular stairs were transformed into musical piano keys, people abandoned the escalator en masse—not because they suddenly learned stairs were healthier, but because taking them became fun. This same principle applies to our teams. When we create conditions where exploration feels natural and failure feels safe, innovation flourishes without force.

True inclusion means moving beyond token representation to genuine agency—people don't want to merely attend the party; they want to help plan it. Creativity emerges not from chaos but from stillness, those moments when our minds settle and make space for insight. And perhaps most importantly, creativity isn't restricted to your design team—it's the procurement specialist finding a novel cost-saving approach, the team leader redesigning workflows to reduce stress, the frontline worker identifying a customer pain point no one else noticed.

What would your organization look like if every team member felt empowered to play, experiment, and truly belong? The answer might transform not just your culture, but your results. Ready to create those conditions in your team? Listen now and discover how to unlock the creative potential hiding in plain sight.

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📝 Don’t forget to share your thoughts on the episode in the comments below.

🔔 Join us in our mission at The Leadership Project and learn more about our organisation here: https://linktr.ee/mickspiers

📕 You can purchase a copy of the Mick Spiers bestselling book "You're a Leader, Now What?" as an eBook or paperback at Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09ZBKK8XV

If you would like a signed copy, please reach out to sei@mickspiers.com and we can arrange it for you too.

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254. Unleashing Creativity: Turning Work Into Play with Mick Spiers

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