Gary Ware is concerned about your plan to work an all-nighter to finish that project. You might want to listen to his advice, because he's been where you are. Gary is the founder of Breakthrough Play, where he helps teams be more creative, confident, and collaborative using play. He has over half a decade of experience with improvisation, and over 14 years in the field of Digital Marketing.

I first encountered Gary as the featured speaker for the Creative Mornings newsletter. His talk hit home, and I think it'll hit home for you as well if you've ever said to yourself, "I'll play when I get all of my work done." That may have worked when we were kids, but for us adults, the work is never done. And if we never play, we suffer. That suffering is called play deprivation - and Gary Ware is a great guide to help us understand it as well as overcome it.

None of the problems our world is facing right now can be solved if we can’t find new ways to talk to each other. Right now, consensus seems like a far off dream and we find ourselves asking, are we doomed to fail? Or is it possible to create a new way to talk to each other so that we can reach consensus and move forward? Maybe we’re following a script that isn’t working? Maybe it’s time to improvise.

And that’s what we’re going to learn about today in our conversation with Marian Rich and Carrie Lobman from the East Side Institute, co-authors of “Playing Around with Changing the World,” a chapter about the East Side Institute’s International Class called The Applied Improvisation Mindset, to be published by Bloomsbury Press early 2021. 

Was 2020 supposed to be “your year”? Of course, sometimes things don’t go the way we want them to, but Jeff Harry has a message for you. Play is a superpower that helps you become more resilient not only in the face of our personal struggles, but the struggles facing our country and the world. So get ready to put away your expectations and start seeing the opportunities. All you have to do is rediscover your play.