To rediscover the curiosity needed for work, practice it in low-stakes daily life. Take a different route to work, order a coffee you'd never choose, or read a different genre of book. Consciously observing how these novel experiences feel primes your brain to question assumptions and see new possibilities in your professional environment.

To get teams comfortable with AI, start with playful, interactive exercises that have no business goal, like styling an app to look like MySpace. This low-stakes experimentation makes the technology less intimidating, fosters creative thinking, and helps participants discover novel applications they can later bring to their actual work.

Finding transformative AI use cases requires more than strategic planning; it needs unstructured, creative "play." Just as a musician learns by jamming, teams build intuition and discover novel applications by experimenting with AI tools without a predefined outcome, letting their minds make new connections.

Like basketball coaches who make players analyze game film to spot momentum shifts, business leaders can use 'what-if' teams. By regularly gaming out hypothetical market shifts or competitor actions, they train the organization to recognize and seize real opportunities when they arise.

Breakthroughs often occur in routine environments like the shower or during a walk. These activities promote what psychologists call "divergent thinking," where the relaxed mind makes novel connections. This scientific process can be intentionally triggered to solve complex problems and foster creativity.

Shift your mindset away from a pass/fail evaluation, which fuels anxiety about uncontrollable outcomes. Instead, approach the situation as a curious exploration. This reframe lowers the psychological stakes, reduces nervousness, and allows for more authentic and effective engagement.

The brain circuits for play are not pruned after childhood; they persist because they are vital for adult adaptation. Biology doesn't waste resources. The continued existence of these circuits is proof that play is a fundamental, non-negotiable mechanism for learning and creativity throughout our entire lives.

For play to trigger neuroplasticity, it requires a specific neurochemical state: high endogenous opioids combined with low adrenaline. When stakes are too high or competition is too intense, the resulting adrenaline spike inhibits the very circuits that make play a powerful tool for learning and brain rewiring.

Play triggers the brainstem to release self-made opioids. This specific chemical state doesn't numb the prefrontal cortex but actually makes it 'smarter'—enhancing its ability to explore different outcomes and contingencies in a flexible way, which is key for creative problem-solving.