Are you Too Successful To Play?
There’s a well-known study by Donald MacKinnon, a psychologist who spent years exploring what makes certain people more creative than others. One of his key findings?
Creativity isn’t a fixed trait. It’s a state. A way of being. A willingness to play.
But here’s what’s happened to many of us as we’ve stepped into leadership: we’ve lost that sense of play.
We got older. We got more serious. We got promoted. We became the ones in the boardroom, not the ones scribbling ideas in the margins. And somewhere along the way, we stopped giving ourselves permission to be truly creative.
So here’s the question:
- Are you too embarrassed to try and be creative in your business?
- Are you worried that if you ‘play’, you’ll look silly — or worse, unprofessional?
- Have you not opened that part of yourself up since school?
- Have you become so successful that you’ve lost access to the very mindset that created new ideas in the first place?
Let me be clear: this isn’t about sitting in a circle doing cheesy ice breakers or ‘getting out of your comfort zone’ for the sake of it. This is about opening up your eyes to the world again. Letting inspiration come from anywhere. Giving your brain permission to join the dots between things that don’t seem connected.
It’s about allowing abstract ideas to hit you — and crucially — letting them live in your brain for a while, without immediately asking, how will this make money?
Because that’s where the magic is.
That’s when we’re using both sides of our brain — not just the rational, results-driven left, but the intuitive, imaginative right. Neuroscience tells us that real creativity happens when these two sides are in conversation — when we shift gears, let ideas breathe, and then apply logic after imagination, not before.
Once those ideas have had some space, you can start to assess them with your practical mind:
- Could this solve a business challenge?
- Is there a simple way to test it?
- Could this idea shift how I approach a problem or open up new opportunities?
What if this became the seed of a new product, campaign, or growth strategy?
Creativity in business isn’t fluff. It’s fuel.
And play is the ignition.
So - are you ready to let that part of yourself back in? Because the CEOs and founders I work with who are brave enough to re-open that door often find more than ideas.
They find momentum. Energy. Confidence. Direction.
Your next breakthrough might not come from a spreadsheet.
It might come from looking at the world a little differently, and letting your brain join the dots.