Hammers, Not Mirrors: Play and Art for Radical Change, Eleanor Snare

Hammers, Not Mirrors: Play and Art for Radical Change soooooooooooooo appeals to me. Eleanor Snare and David Chislett roamed EVERYWHERE in this 2021 Playful Creative Summit dialogue. This talk is another one I’m very broadly interpreting. Snare believes art and play are currently confined in business operations to the continuation of business as usual – “Let’s use some fun team-building exercise to create new consumer products or internally pitch an idea or move the meetings along.”. That’s admirable, but we can go much farther – to challenge the appropriateness of business practices, bring greater equity into business structures, expand businesses’ capacity to support individuals.

The work starts with individuals. As we work on ourselves personally, we bring our new perspectives, understandings and strengths into our workplaces and the rest of our world. The effort can be inspired by faith, creativity, playfulness and childlike exploration. Snare encourages keeping secret diaries or drawing maps about your imagined or desired journey. Stare out a window for a while. Find a partner for the escapades, that boosts the power.