E37 Dara Simkin - From bureaucracy to playocracy: Transforming corporate culture with fun

The Company Road Podcast

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“Innovation really lives on the edge of ridiculous, and in order for us to come up with innovative solutions to solve the world's biggest problems, we've got to take risks. Play is an incredible way to help us do that.”
Dara Simkin
In this episode you’ll hear about:

The importance of mixing play and work: Why bringing play into the workplace can be a powerful tool for creativity, connectivity and innovation and radically shift organisational culture
How to integrate play into the workplace: Key strategies for intentional design for implementing play intentionally and effectively to achieve valued outcomes
The evolution of work culture: Unpacking how priorities within work environments have and continue to shift and what is needed as the focus of work cultures now
Questioning conventional business constructs: How to develop a healthy approach to scepticism of traditional business practices and be active in questioning and challenging established norms and assumptions that may be preventing growth
Reactive vs. responsive businesses: Recognising how your business or specific team approaches organisational change and adjusting the culture to one of proactively addressing emerging challenges
Key links
Culture Hero https://www.culturehero.co/
Dr. Stuart Brown https://www.nifplay.org/about-us/about-dr-stuart-brown/
Kaospilot https://www.kaospilot.dk/
Microsoft Trends Index https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/worklab/work-trend-index
IDEO https://www.ideo.com/
John Cleese on open and closed modes https://www.gurteen.com/gurteen/gurteen.nsf/id/L004957/
Amy Edmonson https://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Pages/profile.aspx?facId=6451
About our guest
Dara Simkin (https://www.linkedin.com/in/dara-simkin-culture-hero/) is an expert facilitator, learning designer and Australia's leading play at work specialist. As the founder of Culture Hero, a norm-busting consultancy driving cultural change and experiential events, Dara's mission is to bridge the gap between work and play.
She's worked with organisations like The LEGO Foundation and McKinsey & Co., as well as world-renowned play researcher Dr Stuart Brown and Silicon Valley's IDEO Play Lab. She is certified in the Danish learning methodology, KAOSPILOT, known for its innovative and dynamic approach to education and training. She is currently involved in a research collaboration with RMIT University, uncovering the benefits of a playful mindset in business as it relates to adaptability, teamwork and belonging.
About our host
Our host, Chris Hudson (https://www.linkedin.com/in/chris-hudson-7464254/), is a Teacher, Experience Designer and Founder of business transformation coaching & consultancy Company Road (www.companyroad.co).
Chris considers himself incredibly fortunate to have worked with some of the world’s most ambitious and successful companies, including Google, Mercedes-Benz, Accenture (Fjord) and Dulux, to name a s

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