Some management book authors believe the best metaphor for business is war. For Lewis Pinault, it's play, not war, if you want to better understand your customers. Says he: "Key to the play zone is my belief that play with purpose, guided by simple principles, can directly foster newly powerful, highly imaginative consumer experiences—and align and advance the right processes and technologies to support them." Pinault cites Plato for the observation that play is the best way to get to know others.
But this book is not a typical get-in-touch-with-your-inner-child look at management practice. Pinault believes "serious play" coupled with a serious understanding of the latest developments in complexity science helps us better understand organizational and consumer behavior, especially in an increasingly networked world. Remember the Cabbage Patch Kids frenzy? Think "butterfly effect" as a sharp promoter stages a shopping frenzy in one store to create an impression among the press that Cabbage Patch chaos was occurring all over the country. Eventually, it was.
As chaos and uncertainty theory start to help us decode consumer actions more and more, Pinault says, traditional marketing and management methods may not give us the tools we need to be successful. Time to break out the toys.
For many managers, we suspect, these ideas may seem a little north of reality. And Pinault has a vested stake in the subject: His consulting firm employs the LEGO Serious Play and Contextual Frameworks systems to help clients think about their products and customers in playful ways. Nevertheless, this book is an interesting read for managers who value alternative approaches to old disciplines, perhaps sparking new insights in the process.—Sean Silverthorne