From Workplace to Playspace: Innovating, Learning and Changing Through Dynamic Engagement (Wiley Desktop Editions) [Hardcover]

Pamela Meyer (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 5, 2010 | Series: Wiley Desktop Editions

From Workplace to Playspace is about visionary, courageous, innovative, and persistent organizations that challenge long-held preconceptions about the incompatibility of workplace and playspace. Each day organizations across industries and with wide-ranging missions are discovering that playspace is the space they can and must create every day at work if they are to think creatively, question old assumptions, respond effectively to the unexpected, and engage all to work at the top of their talent. Filled with case examples from such organizations as Learning Curve International, Google, Chicago Public Schools, Umpqua Bank, and Threadless, the author provides both the conceptual framework and the principles to guide practitioners to create playspace for innovating, learning and changing in their organizations.

Editorial Reviews

From the Inside Flap

From Workplace to Playspace

This innovative book draws on more than twenty years of research and consulting work with organizations as diverse as Google, Chicago Public Schools, Threadless, Learning Curve, Theater Oobleck, and Umpqua Bank. Author Pamela Meyer outlines how organizations can create dynamic workplaces—or "playspaces"—that inspire creative collaboration, learning, and positive change.

From Workplace to Playspace reclaims play as a key dynamic of organizational success.

The book shows leaders, facilitators, and participants how to shift their organizational mindset from one of workplace—with all its constraining connotations—to playspace—with the dynamic engagement it fosters. The "Playspace" approach is being used successfully across businesses, industries, government, and arts organizations, and in those that are well funded, as well as those with limited resources.

From Workplace to Playspace is an informative guide for building a supportive workplace environment that will help everyone work, create, and learn at their best.

From the Back Cover

Praise for From Workplace to Playspace

"If you have always suspected that play is a necessary ingredient to success in the workplace, buy this book. Meyer makes the case in a compelling and rigorous way. If you have always resisted the idea of play as a legitimate professional approach, buy this book. Meyer will convince you otherwise."—Kat Koppett, author, Training to Imagine, and founder, Koppett + Company, LLC

"A uniquely creative approach to bringing energy to your teams and workplace. The real-life examples will convince you that it is possible."—Anna Zaltz, director, Global Leadership Development, PepsiAmericas, Inc.

"This book is for anyone who cares about the quality and vitality of ideas. Instead of the prescriptive how-to of many business books, it awakens one's awareness of being in a meeting: how we maximize our own contributions and bring out the best in others. Since reading this book, I am conscious of how I 'show up' and what I do to enliven the exchange of ideas."—Cheryl Small, director of alchemy, Leo Burnett

"This book is essential reading for managers, team leaders, entrepreneurs, collaborators, and all who have the ability and opportunity to transform work and organizational life. The mindset shift Meyer describes that is the heart of this book—the creation of Playspace—is a new leadership imperative to help people and organizations inspire lasting and meaningful change."—Lisa Gundry, Ph.D., professor and director, The Center for Creativity and Innovation, DePaul University

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: Jossey-Bass; 1 edition (April 5, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0470467223
• ISBN-13: 978-0470467220
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.6 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.5 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,055,613 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Pamela Meyer, Ph.D. is the President of Meyer Creativity Associates, inc. where she works with organizations internationally that want to create dynamic spaces for innovation, learning and positive change. Meyer teaches courses in business creativity, organizational change, and adult learning at DePaul University, where she is director of the Center to Advance Education for Adults, and a faculty fellow at the Center for Creativity and Innovation.

Meyer came to her passion for creative collaboration through her years working with creative teams in the theater as a director and producer. She now uses the lessons she learned in rehearsal halls, and performance spaces to work with organizations around the world that want to create playspace for innovation, learning, and positive change and develop their improvisation capacity. Her clients include Fortune 500 companies across all industry sectors, as well as government, and non-profit organizations. Meyer received a BFA from Boston University, School for Theatre Arts; an MA with a concentration in creativity from Antioch University, and holds a doctorate in Human and Organizational Systems from Fielding Graduate University. She is also a member of ASTD, ODNetwork, Academy of Management, and Actors Equity Association. For more information, visit: http://meyercreativity.com

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Business Case for Play, March 28, 2010

By 

C. Semrad - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: From Workplace to Playspace: Innovating, Learning and Changing Through Dynamic Engagement (Wiley Desktop Editions) (Hardcover)

If ever there was a time for the provocative ideas in Meyer's book, it is now. "From Workplace to Playspace" makes the serious business case why businesses should be paying attention to not only what people are producing, but how they are producing it. Playspace is filled with examples of high-engagement organizations that are thriving because they care about the spaces they create for people to work at their best. The good news is that the approaches Meyer outlines don't require significant investment or resources and can be implemented by people at all levels of the organization. I know, I worked in one of the organizations profiled in the book and saw the results first hand!

Carol Semrad, SPHR
President, SHRP (Society of Human Resource Professionals)

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Practical Roadmap to Joyful & Responsive Learning, May 11, 2010

By 

Israel Gesell "Organizational Alchemist" - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: From Workplace to Playspace: Innovating, Learning and Changing Through Dynamic Engagement (Wiley Desktop Editions) (Hardcover)

I found this book to be both readable and relevant. It offers a theoretical as well as practical approach to help trainers and facilitators address two of the biggest challenges we face- how to keep participants engaged while helping spark their creative abilities.

Meyer's skill set combination of Improv Theater principles, solid research and "stage time" training with hundreds of people has enabled her to write a book that anyone can use to transform the way the people within their organization learn.

What is especially eye-opening is her simple, yet profound,concept that it is the "space" in which we exist that affects the way we process information. She makes clear that while the material we present is important, it is the five kinds of space (Relational, Generative, Safe, Timeful and Provocative) that determines how that material is internalized.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A guide for the company 2.0, April 11, 2010

By 

Christian Kern (Chicago, IL) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: From Workplace to Playspace: Innovating, Learning and Changing Through Dynamic Engagement (Wiley Desktop Editions) (Hardcover)

After I met the author and listened to one of her keynotes, I was very excited to get my hands on the book and with high expectations, I started to read. Not only did she fully deliver but she managed to exceed my presumptions.

What I like about this book is that it is an easy read where you don't have to have studied psychology and hold an MBA degree to understand what the concepts are and to utilize the rich knowledge provided by the author. Meyer introduces her research findings with real life examples of various companies which have incorporated the concepts of their own version of "Playspace" - with outstanding results.

Meyer connects the dots to make a solid business case and explains in detail how to enable people to be creative and experience a mind shift, transforming their workplace into a true "Playspace".

Another wonderful asset of this book is that different roles are addressed (from facilitator, to participant to decision maker) with various tips and background knowledge.

Meyer shows with this book that a change in the way we work does not necessarily have to come from management, but everybody can make a change and get the ball rolling.

In times where many companies are facing cut-backs and a difficult economic situation, this is the right book how to not only make best use of the creative energy but also to create an environment where people like to work in.