Why coaches should encourage their clients to play.

Working with a coach is a considered choice which involves personal commitment, and an investment of time, energy and money. Whether it’s a personal or business investment, committing to coaching is a seriouschoice but it is imperative that thisseriousness does not result inpressure, poor engagement, immobility and stifled creativity. Although different approaches, such as creative techniques,are starting to be accepted in some organisational settings, “Play” is still seen as childlike behaviour, wasting time and something which doesn’t lead to a measureable outcome. Play can be defined as “anything that spontaneously is done for its own sake…appears purposeless, produces pleasure and joy” (Brown S cited in Tippet July 2008). Developmental psychologists identify four types of play: exploratory play, exploring materials and tools for the pleasure of it; constructive play, making things; dramatic play, including role play and “make believe”; games with rules. There are many books and papers which explain the wide range of cognitive, emotional, interpersonal and creative benefits of play, and there are three areas of particular importance to the coaching process. Playfulness offers a way to reduce pressure: For some people, the pressure of some coaching approaches, stringent accountability and large goals, can result in disengagement. The Amygdala in the brain is the seat of the “fight or flight” mechanism. When triggered, clients either “fight” and tackle challenging, fearful situations and plans or they might take “flight”, which at best produces procrastination and at worst, results in self sabotage. If an element of play is introduced into an exploration of a serious topic or into a planning process, it is less likely to evoke a fearful response from the client’s Amygdala and is more likely to elicit an adaptive response.Play helps our clients “tip toe” around their Amygdala, helping to keep it soundly asleep. Play enables creative thinking: “play is the exultation of the possible” (M Buber). Play helps us access our imagination, daydreaming and intuition. The best ideas usually occur to people when they relax sufficiently or do something completely different. Often the best ideas occur to people whilst they shower, walk the dog, knead some dough, dig the garden or other practical activity. This isn’t about work-life balance. This is about optimising brain functioning through play. During the coach process,if demands are only made of theleft side of the brain, the logical reasoning side, the full creative capacity of the brain is not accessed. Imagination is crucial to creativity. Without both, innovation is impossible (Robinson 2011). Play improves Executive Function: The Executive Systemis an umbrella term for cognitive processessuch as planning,working memory, attention, problem solving, verbal reasoning, inhibition, mental flexibility, task switching, initiation and monitoring of actions.These are crucial for the internal processing, development of insight and reflexive learning that are required during the coaching process. Play is known to help develop Executive Functioning in children (Lockhart 2010) and developmental psychologists understand the effects of lack of play on children’s cognitive development. However, the brain continually evolves. While certain structures are developed by the time adulthood is reached, there should be no assumption that cognitive development stops at this point. Neuro-plasticity, the ability of the brain to change in response to input, suggests that “play” is not just beneficial for children – brains can be trained to be “creative” and generate different ways of thinking. Incorporating “play” and childlike playfulness into the coaching process, could be as simpleas using questions to elicit childlike or playful thinking e.g.How would a 4 year think about this? How might an 8 year old approach this? How could I make this fun? What am I taking far too seriously about this?. Questions and scenarios that evoke the imagination are particularly helpful. Face to face client work might allow for using creative rnactivities such as writing difficult communications in crayon or moulding play dough to explore relationships. Adapting children’s games and integrating coaching questions or exercises, is also a fun, yet purposeful way to unlock creativity, lower pressure and promote cognitive function.