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What The World Needs More Of - Abigail Joseph - S01E07 · What Does The World Need More Of?

• 0:07
  Speaker 1: Well, good morning, everybody, and welcome back to What the
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  Speaker 1: World Needs More of podcast. Today, I'm really honored to
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  Speaker 1: invite Dr.
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  Speaker 2: Abigail Joseph, who goes by the Innovation Doctor, to be
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  Speaker 2: our guest. Now, Dr. Joseph is an instructor with the
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  Speaker 2: Oracle Education Foundation, a CSTA Equity Fellow alum, and a
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  Speaker 2: board member of both the CTSA and Maker Nexus, a
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  Speaker 2: Silicon Valley market space. She's given TEDx talks on innovation
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  Speaker 2: and humanity, and her whole body of work centers on
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  Speaker 2: the one idea– that play, joy, and wonder aren't distractions
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  Speaker 2: from serious work, they're the source of it. Her answer
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  Speaker 2: to what the world needs more of, adults who embrace
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  Speaker 2: the magic of play in and out of the workplace.
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  Speaker 2: So let's begin there, Dr.
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  Speaker 1: Joseph.
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  Speaker 2: Let's tell us about play inside and outside the workforce
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  Speaker 2: and why that's what the world needs more of.
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  Speaker 3: Well, when we are children, We all play recklessly, without abandon,
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  Speaker 3: and it is just a part of our life. And
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  Speaker 3: somewhere between toddler three and adulthood, we lose that connective
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  Speaker 3: spirit to play. And I like to say that our
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  Speaker 3: workplaces like to design play out of everything we do
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  Speaker 3: because we get busy, we start trying to, our attention
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  Speaker 3: is divided. We are doing it from this thing to
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  Speaker 3: the next. And the first thing that goes out the
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  Speaker 3: window is play. And we're often tuned into people saying
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  Speaker 3: that play is a frivolous task. So in our heads,
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  Speaker 3: we connect play with something that's frivolous because we don't
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  Speaker 3: think of it as productive. But in essence, the more
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  Speaker 3: we play, the more creative we become, the more happy
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  Speaker 3: we become and the less burnt out human beings we become.
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  Speaker 3: So if we are able to bring in some creativity,
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  Speaker 3: go back to way back when we were children and
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  Speaker 3: think about what is the one thing that we love
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  Speaker 3: to do so much as a child, and bring that
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  Speaker 3: back in, even if for just five minutes a day,
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  Speaker 3: our moods will change, we'll feel lighter, And we'll probably
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  Speaker 3: feel more connected to the work we do because we're
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  Speaker 3: not bitter about how much time and effort and energy
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  Speaker 3: we are putting into things that aren't necessarily our passions.
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  Speaker 3: But we have to do because, you know, we're adults
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  Speaker 3: in the world and we got to make some money.
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  Speaker 2: You know, I'm thinking about that. You're anchored in the
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  Speaker 2: Silicon Valley, the heart of innovation and creativity for around
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  Speaker 2: the world. And there was an era, and it still
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  Speaker 2: may be there, that.
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  Speaker 2: The workplaces were very open to early adoption of bringing
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  Speaker 2: your pet in or having ping pong or these kinds
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  Speaker 2: of very creative things. And I'm thinking of the larger spaces.
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  Speaker 2: It started with Rome, which IBM bought and destroyed that culture,
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  Speaker 2: but that's a separate issue. But Google and Facebook and
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  Speaker 2: other large-scale enterprises were known for having places of community.
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  Speaker 2: Is that the kind of play that you're thinking about
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  Speaker 2: or is it more spirited, jovial? And do you have
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  Speaker 2: some examples of some real successes? Because I think success
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  Speaker 2: leaves clues.
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  Speaker 3: Yes, yeah. So those workspaces, that is really important to
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  Speaker 3: have those play spaces in those large corporations where you
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  Speaker 3: can just go, take a moment and relax. But when
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  Speaker 3: I'm thinking about play, I'm thinking more about passion, things
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  Speaker 3: that you are passionate about. As a child, I'll give
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  Speaker 3: you an example. One of my childhood passions was creating storybooks.
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  Speaker 3: I love to create storybooks. I'd write the story. I'd
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  Speaker 3: illustrate them. I'd bind them up with pages together and
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  Speaker 3: then bind them with cardboard and duct tape, put a
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  Speaker 3: cover on it. And I created a book, right? And
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  Speaker 3: that was something that I love to do. So as
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  Speaker 3: an adult, I'm not creating storybooks, but I could reconnect
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  Speaker 3: to that idea of wanting to create stories and being
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  Speaker 3: a writer and an illustrator and figuring out ways to
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  Speaker 3: bring that in to what I do on a daily
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  Speaker 3: basis really will help ground me in the things I love,
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  Speaker 3: which is going to sprinkle out into the work that
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  Speaker 3: you do. So when I was, I was in the
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  Speaker 3: teaching education space for 17 plus years, working in K-12
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  Speaker 3: schools as a middle school teacher in a various, in
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  Speaker 3: many different ways. And when I left, I took what
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  Speaker 3: I called a teacher gap year. But in that teacher
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  Speaker 3: gap year, I got to play in a maker space
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  Speaker 3: in the local community college. They were building out this
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  Speaker 3: maker space. And I went there and I just soaked
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  Speaker 3: it all in. I learned new tools, laser cutters, 3D printers,
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  Speaker 3: vinyl cutters, and just talked to the people who were
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  Speaker 3: in there also creating and making. And I felt myself
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  Speaker 3: come alive again. I left teaching exhausted, overwhelmed, burnt out,
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  Speaker 3: didn't know what I wanted to be doing and going
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  Speaker 3: into that space just made me radiate from the inside
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  Speaker 3: and out. And that's the kind of passion I'm talking about.
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  Speaker 3: Not just going, I mean, it's great to go play
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  Speaker 3: ping pong or foosball, take a little brain mental break.
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  Speaker 3: But if we can tap into those passions that we have,
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  Speaker 3: learning to play the guitar, painting, dancing, maybe exercise was
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  Speaker 3: your thing as a kid and you're not even doing
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  Speaker 3: that very much. we can tap into those, that's where
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  Speaker 3: our spirits start to come alive.
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  Speaker 2: So, you know, I think about that as like you,
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  Speaker 2: I advise companies, the finance side of me, you know,
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  Speaker 2: I think about all those people who attended all those
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  Speaker 2: MBA programs and they're going to go, well, what about
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  Speaker 2: all that lost productivity? So, so when, when we provide
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  Speaker 2: this play space and, Whether that's physical or mental or
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  Speaker 2: a combination of both or camaraderie, whatever it is, right,
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  Speaker 2: during our traditional thought of work time. Yeah. How does
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  Speaker 2: that fit down to the bottom line? I mean, if
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  Speaker 2: I'm thinking about productivity, shareholder value, profits.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah. Yeah. All those, that is all valid. But in
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  Speaker 3: the end, if we think about workers' productivity during an
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  Speaker 3: eight-hour workday, most people aren't being focused in the task
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  Speaker 3: at hand, all those eight hours. And if we provide
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  Speaker 3: them the opportunity to have some relaxed thinking time, but
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  Speaker 3: they're still firing off those neurons that help them make associations,
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  Speaker 3: connect to the productive tasks that they're doing, that time
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  Speaker 3: is actually more valuable than an employee who's doing some
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  Speaker 3: stuff and then checking Facebook, doing some stuff and then
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  Speaker 3: on Instagram, doing some stuff, shopping on Amazon. We don't
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  Speaker 3: want that employee. We want the super engaged employee. And
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  Speaker 3: that employee that has an opportunity to go off and
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  Speaker 3: paint for 30 minutes during the workday is going to
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  Speaker 3: come back more excited, more happy, more invigorated to do
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  Speaker 3: the job at hand because they have that time and
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  Speaker 3: that space to just relax. And they say that when we,
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  Speaker 3: our brains are in a relaxed state, That that's when
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  Speaker 3: our best thinking happens. And so those employees are going
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  Speaker 3: to take those problems that they're thinking, hard problems they're
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  Speaker 3: thinking about during the workday. They're going to be in
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  Speaker 3: this relaxed state and all of a sudden they're going
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  Speaker 3: to come back and they're going to be able to
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  Speaker 3: solve and be more productive in a faster way.
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  Speaker 2: That's quite intriguing. I don't know. Are you familiar with
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  Speaker 2: Gordon McKenzie's book, Orbiting the Giant Hairball?
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  Speaker 3: Oh, my gosh. It sounds fascinating.
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  Speaker 2: Oh, it is.
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  Speaker 3: It is.
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  Speaker 2: It is a fascinating book. So but but in orbiting
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  Speaker 2: the giant hairball and I highly I top 10 book
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  Speaker 2: of all time. And it's an easy short read. What
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  Speaker 2: he says is that businesses are like bureaucracies are like
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  Speaker 2: a cat's hairball and they bring gravity. So when we
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  Speaker 2: have talent, we need we as leaders need to put
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  Speaker 2: them in satellites so they can benefit from the hairball,
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  Speaker 2: but not get trapped. But that's not his comment in
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  Speaker 2: the middle. of the book was, if we go to
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  Speaker 2: elementary schools, and by the way, thank you for being
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  Speaker 2: a middle school teacher. I love my middle school teacher.
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  Speaker 2: I would probably die if I were to have to
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  Speaker 2: teach middle school. It's a very tough age, so thank you.
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  Speaker 2: But what Gordon's thesis was is that if we went
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  Speaker 2: to a group of first graders and we said, who's
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  Speaker 2: an artist? Everybody would raise their hand. And by third
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  Speaker 2: or fourth grade, maybe half would raise their hand. And
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  Speaker 2: by the time they're in seventh grade, maybe 10% would
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  Speaker 2: raise their hand. And by the time they're in high school,
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  Speaker 2: one or 2%. And by the time they come into
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  Speaker 2: the workforce, very few. And he, he posited the question,
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  Speaker 2: why did we, why did we destroy the inner artist?
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  Speaker 2: And maybe that's, maybe that's connected to this concept of
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  Speaker 2: role of play. Have we, have we destroyed that artistic
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  Speaker 2: side of us just because the system doesn't see it?
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  Speaker 3: Yeah. Yeah. I believe we have in the workplace. The
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  Speaker 3: system really doesn't value our society. It is not in
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  Speaker 3: value of creative task. If you're not being productive, are
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  Speaker 3: you benefiting society? And The answer is, of course you are,
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  Speaker 3: because you're walking around a lot happier. You're doing the
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  Speaker 3: things that bring you alive, and the world needs more
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  Speaker 3: people that are alive. And, you know, as I started
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  Speaker 3: off as a child, yes, we are, ultimately, we will color,
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  Speaker 3: we will do stuff, we will make things, we will
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  Speaker 3: go outdoors, we will build forts, we'll do all these
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  Speaker 3: different creative tasks. And then academics sets in and we're told,
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  Speaker 3: you gotta pass the test. You gotta get to college.
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  Speaker 3: You have to study harder. You have to be better.
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  Speaker 3: You have to make age. You have to get to
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  Speaker 3: an undergraduate so you can become a more productive member
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  Speaker 3: of society. And nowhere along the way do they say, Oh,
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  Speaker 3: and by the way, if you're following your passions, even
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  Speaker 3: if we all need to have a job to get
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  Speaker 3: by in the world, and sometimes we don't get to
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  Speaker 3: do the things that we love to do as our
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  Speaker 3: day job, but no one says that we can't continue
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  Speaker 3: to play and create on the side and follow those
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  Speaker 3: passions along the way and maybe even be able to
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  Speaker 3: bring those into the workplace. And it's very critically important
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  Speaker 3: to being a productive member of society. I remember when
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  Speaker 3: I was in graduate school, the one thing that got
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  Speaker 3: me through my graduate degree in computer science was I
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  Speaker 3: danced every day. I rediscovered dance in grad school and
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  Speaker 3: took PE ballet and jazz classes every single day throughout
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  Speaker 3: my graduate career. And that is how I got through
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  Speaker 3: grad school.
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  Speaker 2: How joyful. I will think about that. Can you reflect
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  Speaker 2: on a moment when you had that aha, I connected
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  Speaker 2: with a person or a group or a company in
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  Speaker 2: one of your consulting sessions that says, you know what,
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  Speaker 2: this group, I know they got it. What was the
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  Speaker 2: sign that said that they got it?
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  Speaker 3: You know what the sign is that people get it? Laughter. Okay.
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  Speaker 3: If I see people laughing, having fun and enjoying themselves.
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  Speaker 3: I know they're there. They're there. I teach a lot
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  Speaker 3: of the design thinking frameworks and as a way of
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  Speaker 3: connecting humans to the problem solving task, putting humans at
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  Speaker 3: the center. And in that process, there's, you know, a
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  Speaker 3: lot of exercises that help you converge and diverge your thinking,
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  Speaker 3: but a lot of it is creative and through play
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  Speaker 3: and And when teams or a person who's working with
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  Speaker 3: me laughs, is laughing, I know that it's hitting in there.
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  Speaker 3: Because most people aren't laughing through doing work. They are
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  Speaker 3: just working.
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  Speaker 2: So so so true you know as we're we're coming
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  Speaker 2: to the end of our of our moments and i
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  Speaker 2: really want to follow up with you and we'll we'll
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  Speaker 2: schedule that time so imagine that that a number of
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  Speaker 2: people are listening to this on a podcast they're driving
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  Speaker 2: their car maybe they're in the bay area maybe they're
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  Speaker 2: in new york or maybe they're around the world i
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  Speaker 2: want them to arrive safely so i don't want them
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  Speaker 2: to stop what they're doing But what can we leave
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  Speaker 2: them with so that when they exit their car and
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  Speaker 2: they have that first opportunity to think about play, what
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  Speaker 2: little things can they do today, tomorrow, the next week
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  Speaker 2: to start to thrive? Yeah.
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  Speaker 3: So I'm going to recommend that you all think of
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  Speaker 3: and write some six-word stories. This is my favorite form
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  Speaker 3: of play because it provides a beautiful constraint. It can
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  Speaker 3: be done very quickly, but it gets you thinking very differently.
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  Speaker 3: How can you capture an image, a moment, in six words?
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  Speaker 3: And this comes from Hemingway, who has a famous six-word story,
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  Speaker 3: Oh gosh, I'm going to butcher it, but I think
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  Speaker 3: it's baby shoes never worn. Look it up. I will. Yeah,
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  Speaker 3: but it's a famous six word story that he did.
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  Speaker 3: And so, this idea of the six-word story is fun, playful,
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  Speaker 3: and once you start doing it, you're just going to
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  Speaker 3: be thinking about, oh, how can I create a six-word
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  Speaker 3: story about this thing? And it gets your.
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  Speaker 2: Brain thinking a little differently. That is beautiful. And if
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  Speaker 2: we could just put that onto PowerPoint slides, I think
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  Speaker 2: we'd all be better. Everybody, thank you very much. Thank
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  Speaker 2: you for Dr. Abigail Joseph, the innovation doctor. All of
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  Speaker 2: her contact information will be at the end and part
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  Speaker 2: of the YouTube group. And until next time, I'm Danielle Morris,
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  Speaker 2: and this has been What the World Needs More of podcast.
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  Speaker 2: Thank you.