Play14 Conference

This session almost didn’t happen.

I was meant to run a different activity at Play14, but the Eliminated box didn’t arrive in time. Play14 is an unconference, no agenda, no schedule, no guarantees. You show up with something to offer and see what happens.

So I pivoted. I brought a few simple games, nothing flashy. One of them was a small collaborative game using chopsticks and fingers, in which the group’s only objective was to stay connected long enough to complete the task together. If one person rushes, everyone fails.

What I love about teaching in these moments is that control disappears. You’re not delivering content; you’re creating conditions. The group figures out the rest. The people around the table were educators. They weren’t asking, “Is this fun?” They were asking, “How would you use this? What does this reveal? What happens when someone panics?”

Those are my favourite questions because leadership doesn’t usually fall apart during big strategy moments. It breaks down during small, human ones when instructions are unclear, when pressure rises, and when someone feels disconnected from the group.

Watching strangers become collaborators in ten minutes reminds me why I do this work. Our workshops use both simple, low-tech experiences like board games and cutting-edge escape rooms to reveal how teams actually work under pressure before those pressures show up in higher-stakes situations. To learn more about what we do see here.