How play is the secret to success at work (w/ Maxwell Pearce)

“I have always struggled with high level sports coaching,” says Maxwell Pearce, a member of the Harlem Globetrotters and a professional visual artist. “There's a certain culture that has excessive cursing, yelling, and also a hyper seriousness that can really stunt your growth. Although we were playing sports, ironically, we weren't coached to be very playful.” That paradox—that even in play, we can lose playfulness—is the starting point for Pearce’s argument. He has built two careers, one as a Globetrotter known for impossible trick dunks and one as a mixed-media artist whose materials are used sports equipment, by treating play not as the opposite of seriousness but as a tool for navigating it.

Play as a tool, not a distraction

Pearce’s central claim is that play and seriousness are not opposites. The real problem is a culture of hyper-seriousness that mistakes rigidity for discipline. “I think if it's all play, sometimes you can lose sight of the direction,” he says, “but if you maintain a certain level of seriousness more so in being serious about achieving a certain outcome or serious about expanding your boundaries, then I think that balance can really be helpful for any field you're in.”