The Playful Entrepreneur: How to Adapt and Thrive in Uncertain Times

279 Pages·2018·0.82 MB·English

by  Mark Dodgson

THE PLAYFUL ENTREPRENEUR
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THE
PLAYFUL
ENTREPRENEUR
How to Adapt and Thrive in
Uncertain Times
Mark Dodgson and David M. Gann
YALE UNIVERSITY PRESS
NEW HAVEN AND LONDON
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Copyright © 2018 Mark Dodgson and David M. Gann
All rights reserved. This book may not be reproduced in whole or in part, in
any form (beyond that copying permitted by Sections 107 and 108 of the U.S.
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permission from the publishers.
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Set in Adobe Caslon Pro by IDSUK (DataConnection) Ltd
Printed in Great Britain by TJ International Ltd, Padstow, Cornwall
Library of Congress Control Number: 2018938631
ISBN 978-0-300-23392-6 (hbk)
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
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For Oliver and Michael
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Contents
Prelude viii
Acknowledgements x
Part 1 Why be playful? 1
1 Work 3
2 Play 41
Part 2 Noble behaviours 89
3 Grace 91
4 Craft 125
5 Fortitude 150
6 Ambition 171
Part 3 Being playful 209
7 Work and organization 211
Postscript 239
Endnotes 243
Bibliography 248
Index 253
Make it playful: A manifesto for those 264
seeking more agreeable work
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Prelude
In 1762, the Swiss philosopher Jean-J acques Rousseau wrote an
influential book called Emile. The book was stylistically rather
strange and, as we shall see, was written by an extremely peculiar
man. Some of the views in the book were so subversive it was
banned and even publicly burned. Its ambitions were no less
than understanding the nature of mankind, and how education
can encourage innate human goodness.
The eponymous Emile is an imaginary child, and Rousseau
writes about how early education should encourage his ability to
carefully observe the world around him. Having made an ‘active
and thinking being’, the latter part of Emile’s education is
completed by making a ‘loving and feeling being – that is to say,
to perfect reason by sentiment’. A key to Emile’s learning, which
we call ‘Emile’s gift’, is the way he combines his work and his play.
Work or play are all one to [Emile], his games are his work;
he knows no difference. He brings to everything the cheer-
fulness of interest, the charm of freedom.1
The gift of combining work and play is the core of this book. The
wide range of entrepreneurial people and organizations whose
stories we tell show the importance of merging play and work
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PRELUDE
in today’s uncertain world. They show us the behaviours of
entrepreneurs that allow everyone at work to express the cheer-
fulness of interest and enjoy the charm of freedom. With so
many people working in circumstances that are volatile, stressful
and unrewarding – and where new technologies can seem so
threatening – new approaches to work are needed that bring the
pleasure, fun and meaning back to this important aspect of our
lives. Emile’s gift is to show us the virtue of playful work and how
its helps us survive and thrive in our jobs in a turbulent and
unpredictable world.
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