Explorations & Thinking

Notes, lines of inquiry and observations from Living Motion’s practice.

On strategy, leadership, learning and development, Problem Solving, technology, and professional judgement in situations that do not become clear by themselves.

Some explorations are short. Others need more room. Some grow out of a book, session or guidance process. Others begin with a question that is not yet clear enough, but is worth staying with.

Not to offer quick answers. But to look more carefully at what is going on, what choices become possible, and what thoughtful action may require.

Reading explorations

You can search by word, theme or question. Or browse the explorations below, with the most recent ones first.

Featured
The Fastest Way to a Diploma And the Slow Work of Becoming
The Fastest Way to a Diploma And the Slow Work of Becoming

We often chase the quickest route to a diploma.
But real learning is not a transaction, it is a transformation.
This exploration looks at why speed is appealing, yet never enough.

The Problem Manager: The Human Role Machines Cannot Replace
The Problem Manager: The Human Role Machines Cannot Replace

Automation is accelerating everything, including the risk of solving the wrong problem.
This exploration shows why every team needs someone who can frame the situation before efficiency takes over: the Problem Manager.

Why we rush to solutions and how AI can help us stay curious
Why we rush to solutions and how AI can help us stay curious

We cling to early solutions because uncertainty is uncomfortable.
This exploration shows how creativity collapses under pressure, and how AI can help us stay open long enough for new ideas to emerge.

“We’re not doing theory, don’t worry”, how reframing models as experiences builds real understanding
“We’re not doing theory, don’t worry”, how reframing models as experiences builds real understanding

People don’t resist models, they resist how models are introduced.
This exploration shows why naming a framework too early shuts people down, and how experience-first design builds real understanding.

Beyond the Obvious Match: How choosing the “wrong” game reveals new solutions
Beyond the Obvious Match: How choosing the “wrong” game reveals new solutions

We often assume the best Serious Game is the one that matches our topic.
But real insight emerges when the metaphor is just far enough away to make old patterns visible again.

New Babylon Revisited Play, Freedom, and the Future of Work
New Babylon Revisited Play, Freedom, and the Future of Work

Constant Nieuwenhuys imagined a world where automation frees humans to live creatively.
This exploration revisits New Babylon to ask how play, imagination, and AI can help us shape more human futures today.

Playfulness as a Common Language: How intercultural teams build trust beyond words
Playfulness as a Common Language: How intercultural teams build trust beyond words

In intercultural teams, words are never enough.
This exploration shows how play creates a shared language of trust, timing, and connection, long before people speak fluently.

Smurfing the team: What commercial gaming reveals about overqualified teammates doing the wrong work
Smurfing the team: What commercial gaming reveals about overqualified teammates doing the wrong work

Smurfing looks like helping, seniors doing junior work “because it’s faster.”
But just like in gaming, it breaks the system.
This exploration reveals why smurfing limits team growth and how to redesign the pattern.

Homo Ludens revisited: Why gaming is not an escape, but a return to our creative roots
Homo Ludens revisited: Why gaming is not an escape, but a return to our creative roots

We often treat games as distractions.
But play is one of the oldest ways humans engage with complexity.
This exploration revisits Homo Ludens to show why play is not escape, but creative return.

There Is No “Right” Solution: What Serious Gaming really delivers (and what it doesn’t)
There Is No “Right” Solution: What Serious Gaming really delivers (and what it doesn’t)

We’re trained to search for the “right” answer.
But in complex, human systems, no universal fix exists.
This exploration shows how Serious Gaming helps teams see their system, and grow their capacity to act together.

Who grabs the pen? Redefining participation in intercultural learning spaces
Who grabs the pen? Redefining participation in intercultural learning spaces

Visibility is often mistaken for engagement.
This exploration shows why “grabbing the pen” is culturally loaded, and how to design learning spaces where many forms of participation can shape the outcome.