Jeff Harry : The Play Coach

Today’s guest is Jeff Harry, the Play Coach.

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Do you play enough? 

Play is something that most of us associate with childhood. As adults, we might play with children. But most people gave up playing with stuff when they hit puberty.

Yes, it is ok to play sports, cards or board games, but there are adult responsibilities, so it is believed that there is no time for ‘child’s play’ in this world. There is a little light as the gaming industry has tapped into our desire to play and made it acceptable for adults to play online games. However, all of this play is still confined to our leisure time; the difference with children is that playing is the day job.   

But what if we have got it wrong and play should be part of our day jobs as adults?

My guest on the show today is Jeff Harry, and he is a play coach.  He shows individuals and companies how to tap into their true selves, to feel their happiest and most fulfilled — all by playing. 

Jeff saw the movie “Big” where Tom hanks got to play in a toy shop, thinking that was a job he started writing to toy companies.

“I was spamming before spam was a thing.”

Letters from a 9-year-old get treated as kind of nice but politely rejected. Not that it stopped him, he kept writing, and by the time he was 15, he got some advice to study mechanical engineering.

He got the degree and got the job he had always wanted in toy company, only to discover it was not what he expected or wanted. There was no play!

There he was 25 and working in a cubicle, looking at a screen and writing reports about play.   Then 9/11 happened and leaving New York seemed like a good option, so he quit. 

Moving to the San Francisco bay area, he got the perfect job building stuff with Lego, and over the next 12 years he turned it into the largest Lego inspired stem organisation with over 400 people doing creative stuff. 

Our conversation is the story of how Jeff took play into the business world. He has since worked with Google, Microsoft, Southwest Airlines, Adobe, the NFL, Amazon, and Facebook, helping their staff to infuse more play into the day-to-day.

Jeff is an established international speaker.  He has been selected by BambooHR & Engagedly as one of the Top 100 HR Influencers of 2020, for his work in organisational development.

“While we spend most of our time pretending to be important, serious grown-ups, it’s when we let go of that facade and just play, that the real magic happens.”

It is a wonderful conversation; Jeff encourages us to embrace our nerdy genius, as it gives us the power to make a difference and change lives. He believes that we already have many of the answers we seek, and by simply unleashing our inner child, we can find our purpose and, in turn, help to create a better world.

 

I hope you enjoy this playful conversation with Jeff Harry. His website is:-

https://www.rediscoveryourplay.com

 

Do check out his social links and connect with him.  You can find him on LinkedIn Youtube, Instagram Medium and Ticktock.

https://youtube.com/jeffharryplays
https://instagram.com/jeffharryplays
https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeff-harry-6991a94/
https://medium.com/@jeffharryplays
https://www.tiktok.com/@jeffharryplays

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That is it for this week, my final thoughts for the Christmas season…

"Be kind to all, but most of all be kind to yourself. "

It is a reflective time of year, and for those in the northern regions, it is cold, dark and a good time to snuggle up and go within. 

I use this time to find inner wisdom, much of that was explained on the advent journey in a previous podcast. referencing our Spirit-duality event: https://spirit-duality.heysummit.com/checkout/select-tickets/

If you are looking for some answers the free ‘5 Questions Workbook‘ is a good place to start:  https://lifepassionandbusiness.com/the-five-questions/