The Real Make Believe Blog

The Real Make Believe Blog explores psychological safety, trust, and the kind of team building that actually changes how people work together. We write about the small emotional risks that make collaboration real: who speaks up, who stays quiet, what gets avoided, and what shifts when people feel safe enough to tell the truth and curious enough to stretch.

You’ll find practical reflections on creative leadership, workplace belonging, and how to design experiences that build connection without cringe, forced fun, or competition. Some posts draw from research, some from years of facilitating teams, and some from watching what happens when the stakes are just high enough to matter. If you’re trying to build a culture where people take smarter risks, trust each other sooner, and do better work together, this is where those conversations live.

3 Easy Ways to Convince Yourself to Play More in 2022
Ben Swire Ben Swire

3 Easy Ways to Convince Yourself to Play More in 2022

Did 2021 feel aimless? Joyless? You're not alone. Not by a long shot. For heaven’s sake, the most read New York Times article for all of 2021 (“There’s a Name for the Blah You’re Feeling”) is about how the nonstop waves of disruption to work, family, and social lives have fed a state of being called “languishing” - a not-quite-depression absence of well-being where we long for joy and purpose. So how can you save 2022 from more of the same? Science says: convince yourself to play.

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