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.
How to Make New Friends in the New Normal
Made tons of new friends at work, lately? Not so much? You’re not alone in feeling alone. Two remote years of only seeing each other on purpose, for a purpose, has cost us those informal interactions–like waiting for an elevator or walking the halls together–that do a surprising amount to strengthen social bonds. An article in the NY Times last year found that even the most introverted among us are missing that sense of connection and belonging that community naturally cultivates. That sense of belonging nourishes unexpected benefits as well, like encouraging creative risks, enhancing adaptability in the face of change, and just making us happier.
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.