Statler, M., Heracleous, Loizos and Jacobs, C. D.. (2011) Serious play as a practice of paradox. Journal of Applied Behavioral Science, Vol.47 (No.2). pp. 236-256. ISSN 0021-8863

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Abstract

A recent stream of organizational research has used the term serious play to describe situations in which people engage in playful behaviors deliberately with the intention to achieve serious, work-related objectives. In this article, the authors reflect on the ambiguity of this term, and reframe serious play as a practice characterized by the paradox of intentionality (when actors engage deliberately in a fun, intrinsically motivating activity as a means to achieve a serious, extrinsically motivated work objective). This reframing not only extends the explanatory power of the concept of serious play but also helps bridge the concerns of scholars and practitioners: first, by enabling us to understand a variety of activities in organizations as serious play, which can help practitioners address specific organizational challenges; second, by recognizing the potential for emergent serious play, and the creation of the conditions to foster this emergence; third, by pointing toward specific, individual or group-level outcomes associated with the practice; and finally, by uncovering its ethical dimensions and encouraging the understanding of the role of serious play on ethical decision making.

Item Type:	Journal Article
Divisions:	Faculty of Social Sciences > Warwick Business School > Marketing & Strategic Management Faculty of Social Sciences > Warwick Business School
Journal or Publication Title:	Journal of Applied Behavioral Science
Publisher:	Sage Publications, Inc.
ISSN:	0021-8863
Date:	June 2011
Volume:	Vol.47
Number:	No.2
Page Range:	pp. 236-256
Identification Number:	10.1177/0021886311398453
Status:	Peer Reviewed
Publication Status:	Published
Access rights to Published version:	Restricted or Subscription Access
URI:	http://wrap.warwick.ac.uk/id/eprint/42095

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