WEBVTT

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(Bulgarian) Hello.

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I'm here today

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to start a revolution.

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Now before you get up in arms,

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or you break into song,

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or you pick a favorite color,

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I want to define
what I mean by revolution.

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By revolution,

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I mean a drastic and far-reaching change

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in the way we think and behave -

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the way we think and the way we behave.

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Now why, Steve,
why do we need a revolution?

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We need a revolution

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because things aren't working;
they're just not working.

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And that makes me really sad

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because I'm sick and tired
of things not working.

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You know, I'm sick and tired of us
not living up to our potential.

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I'm sick and tired of us being last.

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And we are last place in so many things -

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for example, social factors.

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We're last place in Europe in innovation.

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There we are right at the end,
right at the bottom,

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last place as a culture
that doesn't value innovation.

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We're last place in health care,

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and that's important
for a sense of well-being.

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And there we are,
not just last in the E.U.,

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we're last in Europe, at the very bottom.

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And worst of all,

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it just came out three weeks ago,
many of you have seen it, The Economist.

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We're the saddest place on Earth,

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relative to GDP per capita -

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the saddest place on Earth.

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That's social. Let's look at education.

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Where do we rank three weeks ago

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in another report by the OECD?

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Last in reading, math and science. Last.

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Business:

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The lowest perception in the E.U.

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that entrepreneurs provide
benefits to society.

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Why as a result, what happens?

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The lowest percentage
of entrepreneurs starting businesses.

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And this is despite the fact

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that everybody knows that small business

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is the engine of economies.

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We hire the most people;
we create the most taxes.

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So if our engine's broken, guess what?

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Last in Europe GDP per capita.

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Last.

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So it's no surprise, guys,
that 62 percent of Bulgarians

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are not optimistic about the future.

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We're unhappy, we have bad education,

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and we have the worst businesses.

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And these are facts, guys.

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This isn't story tale;
it's not make-believe.

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It's not.

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It's not a conspiracy I have got
against Bulgaria. These are facts.

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So I think it should be
really, really clear

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that our system is broken.

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The way we think, the way we behave,

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our operating system
of behaving is broken.

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We need a drastic change
in the way we think and behave

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to transform Bulgaria for the better,

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for ourselves, for our friends,

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for our family and for our future.

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Thank you.

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How did this happen?

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Let's be positive now. We're going
to get positive. How did this happen?

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I think we're last because -

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and this is going to be
drastic to some of you -

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because we are handicapping ourselves.

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We're holding ourselves back

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because we don't value play.

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I said "play," all right.

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In case some of you forgot what play is,
this is what play looks like.

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Babies play, kids play,

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adults play.

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We don't value play.

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In fact, we devalue play.

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We're handicapping ourselves.

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And we devalue it in three areas.

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Let's go back to the same three areas.

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Social: 45 years of what?

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Of communism -

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of valuing the society
and the state over the individual

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and squashing, inadvertently,

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creativity, individual
self-expression and innovation.

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And instead, what do we value?

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Because it's shown

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the way we apply, generate
and use knowledge

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is affected by our social
and institutional context,

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which told us what in communism?

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To be serious.

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To be really, really serious.

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It did.

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(Applause)

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Be serious.

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I can't tell you how many times
I've been scolded in the park

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for letting my kids play on the ground.

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Heaven forbid they play
in the dirt, the kal,

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or even worse, lokvi, water
- that will kill them.

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I have been told by babas and dyados

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that we shouldn't let
our kids play so much

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because life is serious

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and we need to train them
for the seriousness of life.

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We have a serious meme running through.

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It's a social gene running through us.

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It's a serious gene.

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It's 45 years of it

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that's created what I call
the "baba factor."

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(Laughter)

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(Applause)

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And here's how it works.

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Step one: woman says, "I want
to have a baby. Iskam baby."

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Step two: we get the baby. Woohoo!

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But then what happens in step three?

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I want to go back to work

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because I need to further my career
or I just want to go have coffees.

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I'm going to give bebko to baba.

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But we need to remember

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that baba's been infected
by the serious meme for 45 years.

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So what happens?

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She passes that virus on to baby,

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and it takes a really, really, really
long time - as the redwood trees -

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for that serious meme

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to get out of our operating system.

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What happens then?

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It goes into education where we have
an antiquated education system

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that has little changed for 100 years,

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that values rote learning,

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memorization and standardization,

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and devalues self-expression,
self-exploration,

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questioning, creativity and play.

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It's a crap system.

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True story: I went looking
for a school for my kid.

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We went to this prestigious little school

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and they say they're going
to study math 10 times a week

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and science eight times a week

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and reading five times
a day and all this stuff.

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And we said, "Well
what about play and recess?"

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And they said, "Ha. There won't be
a single moment in the schedule."

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(Laughter)

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And we said, "He's five."

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What a crime. What a crime.

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And it's a crime

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that our education system is so serious
because education is serious

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that we're creating
mindless, robotic workers

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to put bolts in pre-drilled holes.

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But I'm sorry, the problems of today

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are not the problems
of the Industrial Revolution.

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We need adaptability,

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the ability to learn how to be
creative and innovative.

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We don't need mechanized workers.

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But no, now our meme goes into work
where we don't value play.

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We create robotic workers
that we treat like assets,

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to lever and just throw away.

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What are qualities of a Bulgarian work?

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Autocratic -

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do what I say because I'm the chef.

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I'm the boss and I know better than you.

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Untrusting - you're obviously a criminal,
so I'm going to install cameras.

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(Laughter)

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Controlling -

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you're obviously an idiot,
so I'm going to make

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a zillion little processes
for you to follow

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so you don't step out of the box.

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So they're restrictive -
don't use your mobile phone,

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don't use your laptop,
don't search the Internet,

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don't be on I.M.

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That's somehow unprofessional and bad.

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And at the end of the day,
it's unfulfilling

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because you're controlled,
you're restricted, you're not valued

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and you're not having any fun.

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We, in social, in education
and in our business,

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don't value play.

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And that's why we're last,

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because we don't value play.

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And you can say, "That's ridiculous,
Steve. What a dumb idea.

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It can't be because of play.

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Just play, that's a stupid thing."

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We have the serious meme in us.

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Well I'm going to say no.

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And I will prove it to you
in the next part of the speech -

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that play is the catalyst,
it is the revolution,

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that we can use to transform
Bulgaria for the better.

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Play:

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our brains

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are hardwired for play.

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Evolution has selected,

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over millions and billions of years,

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for play in animals and in humans.

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And you know what?

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Evolution does a really, really good job

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of deselecting traits
that aren't advantageous to us

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and selecting traits
for competitive advantage.

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Nature isn't stupid,
and it selected for play.

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Throughout the animal
kingdom, for example: ants.

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Ants play.

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Maybe you didn't know that.

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But when they're playing,

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they're learning the social
order and dynamics of things.

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Rats play, but what you
might not have known

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is that rats that play more

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have bigger brains

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and they learn tasks better,

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skills.

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Kittens play. We all know kittens play.

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But what you may not know

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is that kittens deprived of play

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are unable to interact socially.

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They can still hunt,
but they can't be social.

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Bears play.

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But what you may not know

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is that bears that play
more survive longer.

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It's not the bears that learn
how to fish better.

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It's the ones that play more.

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And a final really interesting study -

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it's been shown, a correlation

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between play and brain size.

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The more you play, the bigger
the brains there are.

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Dolphins, pretty big brains, play a lot.

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But who do you think

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with the biggest brains
are the biggest players?

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Yours truly: humans.

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Kids play, we play -

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of every nationality, of every race,

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of every color, of every religion.

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It's a universal thing - we play.

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And it's not just kids, it's adults too.

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Really cool term: neoteny -

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the retention of play
and juvenile traits in adults.

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And who are the biggest neotenists?

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Humans. We play sports.

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We do it for fun, or as Olympians,
or as professionals.

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We play musical instruments.

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We dance, we kiss, we sing,

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we just goof around.

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We're designed by nature to play

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from birth to old age.

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We're designed to do that continuously -

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to play and play a lot

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and not stop playing.

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It is a huge benefit.

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Just like there's benefits to animals,

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there's benefits to humans.

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For example, it's been shown

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to stimulate neural
growth in the amygdala,

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in the area where it controls emotions.

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It's been shown to promote
pre-frontal cortex development

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where a lot of cognition is happening.

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As a result, what happens?

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We develop more emotional maturity
if we play more.

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We develop better decision-making ability

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if we play more.

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These, guys, are facts.

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It's not fiction, it's not story tales,
it's not make-believe;

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it's cold, hard science.

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These are the benefits to play.

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It is a genetic birthright that we have,

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like walking or speaking or seeing.

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And if we handicap ourselves with play,

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we handicap ourselves

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as if we would with any other
birthright that we have.

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We hold ourselves back.

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Little exercise just for a second:

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close your eyes

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and try to imagine a world without play.

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Imagine a world without theater,
without the arts,

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without song, without dancing,

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without soccer, without football,

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without laughter.

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What does this world look like?

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It's pretty bleak.

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It's pretty glum.

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Now imagine your workplace.

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Is it fun? Is it playful?

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Or maybe the workplace of your friends
- here we're forward thinking.

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Is it fun? Is it playful?

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Or is it crap?
Is it autocratic, controlling,

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restrictive and untrusting
and unfulfilling?

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We have this concept

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that the opposite of play is work.

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We even feel guilty if we're seen
playing at work.

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"Oh, my colleagues see me laughing.
I must not have enough work,"

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or, "Oh, I've got to hide
because my boss might see me.

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He's going to think I'm not working hard."

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But I have news for you:
our thinking is backwards.

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The opposite of play

00:11:39.782 --> 00:11:41.148
is not work.

00:11:41.169 --> 00:11:44.069
The opposite of play is depression.

00:11:45.521 --> 00:11:46.997
It's depression.

00:11:47.018 --> 00:11:48.037
In fact,

00:11:48.058 --> 00:11:50.251
play improves our work.

00:11:50.272 --> 00:11:52.885
Just like there's benefits
for humans and animals,

00:11:52.906 --> 00:11:54.905
there's benefits for play at work.

00:11:55.141 --> 00:11:58.141
For example, it stimulates creativity.

00:11:58.393 --> 00:12:01.392
It increases our openness to change.

00:12:01.974 --> 00:12:04.490
It lets us learn better.

00:12:04.580 --> 00:12:06.579
It improves our ability to learn.

00:12:06.600 --> 00:12:09.299
It provides a sense
of purpose and mastery -

00:12:09.343 --> 00:12:11.179
two key motivational things

00:12:11.200 --> 00:12:13.199
that increase productivity,

00:12:13.200 --> 00:12:14.800
through play.

00:12:15.200 --> 00:12:18.199
So before you start thinking
of play as just not serious,

00:12:18.200 --> 00:12:20.199
play doesn't mean frivolous.

00:12:20.600 --> 00:12:23.124
You know, the professional athlete
that loves skiing,

00:12:23.144 --> 00:12:25.599
he's serious about it, but he loves it.

00:12:25.600 --> 00:12:28.599
He's having fun, he's in the groove,
he's in the flow.

00:12:29.200 --> 00:12:31.199
A doctor might be serious,

00:12:31.200 --> 00:12:33.460
but laughter's still a great medicine.

00:12:34.438 --> 00:12:36.437
Our thinking is backwards.

00:12:36.458 --> 00:12:38.118
We shouldn't be feeling guilty.

00:12:38.139 --> 00:12:40.468
We should be celebrating play.

00:12:41.065 --> 00:12:42.999
Quick example from the corporate world.

00:12:42.999 --> 00:12:45.422
FedEx, easy motto:
people, service, profit.

00:12:45.443 --> 00:12:48.811
If you treat your people like people,
if you treat them great,

00:12:48.832 --> 00:12:52.521
they're happier, they're fulfilled,
they have a sense of mastery and purpose.

00:12:52.521 --> 00:12:54.653
What happens? They give better service -

00:12:54.653 --> 00:12:55.870
not worse, but better.

00:12:55.891 --> 00:12:57.689
And when customers call for service

00:12:57.689 --> 00:13:01.475
and they're dealing with happy people
that can make decisions and are fulfilled,

00:13:01.475 --> 00:13:03.598
how do the customers feel?
They feel great.

00:13:03.598 --> 00:13:06.313
And what do great customers do,
great-feeling customers?

00:13:06.313 --> 00:13:09.419
They buy more of your service
and they tell more of their friends,

00:13:09.419 --> 00:13:10.723
which leads to more profit.

00:13:10.723 --> 00:13:12.014
People, service, profit.

00:13:12.014 --> 00:13:14.544
Play increases productivity,
not decreases.

00:13:14.671 --> 00:13:16.321
And you're going to say,

00:13:16.342 --> 00:13:19.202
"Gee, that can work for FedEx
out there in the United States,

00:13:19.234 --> 00:13:21.233
but it can't work in Bulgaria.

00:13:21.254 --> 00:13:23.253
No way. We're different."

00:13:23.774 --> 00:13:26.126
It does work in Bulgaria, you guys.
Two reasons.

00:13:26.126 --> 00:13:27.383
One, play is universal.

00:13:27.404 --> 00:13:30.166
There's nothing weird
about Bulgarians that we can't play,

00:13:30.166 --> 00:13:32.558
besides the serious meme
that we have to kick out.

00:13:32.558 --> 00:13:35.047
Two, I've tried it. I've tried at Sciant.

00:13:35.068 --> 00:13:37.243
When I got there,
we had zero happy customers.

00:13:37.243 --> 00:13:39.375
Not one customer would refer us.

00:13:39.600 --> 00:13:41.359
I asked them all.

00:13:41.380 --> 00:13:43.379
We had marginal profit - I did.

00:13:43.600 --> 00:13:45.113
We had marginal profits,

00:13:45.134 --> 00:13:47.133
and we had unhappy stakeholders.

00:13:47.314 --> 00:13:49.111
Through some basic change,

00:13:49.132 --> 00:13:52.131
change like improving transparency,

00:13:52.449 --> 00:13:54.559
change like promoting self-direction

00:13:54.580 --> 00:13:57.579
and collaboration,
encouraging collaboration,

00:13:57.600 --> 00:13:58.990
not autocracy,

00:13:59.011 --> 00:14:01.010
the things like having a results-focus.

00:14:01.031 --> 00:14:04.148
I don't care when you get in
in the morning, or when you leave.

00:14:04.169 --> 00:14:06.783
I care that your customer
and your team is happy

00:14:06.804 --> 00:14:08.283
and you're organized with that.

00:14:08.304 --> 00:14:10.400
Why do I care if you get in
at nine o'clock?

00:14:10.973 --> 00:14:12.599
Basically promoting fun.

00:14:12.600 --> 00:14:15.353
Through promoting fun
and a great environment,

00:14:15.374 --> 00:14:17.290
we were able to transform Sciant

00:14:17.311 --> 00:14:19.004
and, in just three short years -

00:14:19.025 --> 00:14:21.216
sounds like a long time,
but change is slow -

00:14:21.237 --> 00:14:24.025
every customer,
from zero to every customer referring us,

00:14:24.345 --> 00:14:26.566
above average profits for the industry

00:14:26.600 --> 00:14:28.320
and happy stakeholders.

00:14:28.341 --> 00:14:30.970
And you can say, "Well how do
you know they're happy?"

00:14:30.970 --> 00:14:33.097
Well we did win, every year
that we entered,

00:14:33.097 --> 00:14:35.824
one of the rankings for best
employer for small business.

00:14:35.824 --> 00:14:38.019
Independent analysis
from anonymous employees

00:14:38.019 --> 00:14:39.133
on their surveys.

00:14:39.133 --> 00:14:41.445
It does, and it can, work in Bulgaria.

00:14:41.466 --> 00:14:43.289
There's nothing holding us back,

00:14:43.289 --> 00:14:45.989
except our own mentality about play.

00:14:47.600 --> 00:14:50.599
So some steps that we can
take - to finish up -

00:14:50.600 --> 00:14:52.599
how to make this revolution through play.

00:14:52.600 --> 00:14:54.599
First of all, you have to believe me.

00:14:54.600 --> 00:14:56.389
If you don't believe me,

00:14:56.410 --> 00:14:59.265
well just go home and think about it
some more or something.

00:14:59.265 --> 00:15:02.154
Second of all, if you don't have
the feeling of play in you,

00:15:02.154 --> 00:15:03.889
you need to rediscover play.

00:15:03.910 --> 00:15:06.174
Whatever it was that as a kid
you used to enjoy,

00:15:06.200 --> 00:15:08.199
that you enjoyed only six months ago,

00:15:08.200 --> 00:15:10.779
but now that you've got
that promotion you can't enjoy,

00:15:10.800 --> 00:15:12.998
because you feel like
you have to be serious,

00:15:12.998 --> 00:15:14.030
rediscover it.

00:15:14.030 --> 00:15:17.488
I don't care if it's mountain biking
or reading a book or playing a game.

00:15:17.488 --> 00:15:18.324
Rediscover that

00:15:18.324 --> 00:15:19.655
because you're the leaders,

00:15:19.655 --> 00:15:21.855
the innovation leaders,
the thought leaders.

00:15:21.876 --> 00:15:24.257
You're the ones that have
to go back to the office

00:15:24.278 --> 00:15:25.779
or talk to your friends

00:15:25.800 --> 00:15:28.799
and ignite the fire of change
in the play revolution.

00:15:28.820 --> 00:15:31.179
You guys have to,
and if you're not feeling it,

00:15:31.200 --> 00:15:33.940
your colleagues, your employees,
aren't going to feel it.

00:15:33.961 --> 00:15:36.933
You've got to go back and say,
"Hey, I'm going to trust you."

00:15:36.933 --> 00:15:39.662
Weird concept: I hired you;
I should trust you.

00:15:39.683 --> 00:15:42.682
I'm going to let you make decisions.
I'm going to empower you,

00:15:42.687 --> 00:15:44.209
Borrowing a page from Demi,

00:15:44.209 --> 00:15:47.390
and I'm going to delegate
to the lowest level, rather than the top.

00:15:47.390 --> 00:15:50.188
I'm going to encourage
constructive criticism.

00:15:50.300 --> 00:15:52.299
I'm going to let you challenge authority.

00:15:52.300 --> 00:15:55.110
Because it's by challenging
the way things are always done

00:15:55.110 --> 00:15:58.369
is that we are able to break out
of the rut that we're in

00:15:58.400 --> 00:15:59.877
and create innovative solutions

00:15:59.898 --> 00:16:01.897
to problems of today.

00:16:01.918 --> 00:16:03.917
We're not always right as leaders.

00:16:04.800 --> 00:16:06.624
We're going to eradicate fear.

00:16:06.645 --> 00:16:09.458
Fear is the enemy of play.

00:16:09.479 --> 00:16:11.061
And we're going to do things

00:16:11.082 --> 00:16:14.093
like eliminate restrictions.

00:16:15.000 --> 00:16:17.191
You know what, let them use
their mobile phone

00:16:17.211 --> 00:16:19.775
for personal calls - heaven forbid.

00:16:19.796 --> 00:16:21.795
Let them be on the Internet.

00:16:22.000 --> 00:16:24.999
Let them be on instant messengers.

00:16:25.000 --> 00:16:28.000
Let them take long lunches.

00:16:28.809 --> 00:16:30.969
Lunch is like the recess for work.

00:16:31.000 --> 00:16:32.831
It's when you go out in the world

00:16:32.852 --> 00:16:35.428
and you recharge your brain,
you meet your friends,

00:16:35.449 --> 00:16:37.999
you have a beer,
you have some food, you talk,

00:16:38.000 --> 00:16:39.999
you get some synergy of ideas

00:16:40.000 --> 00:16:41.999
that maybe you wouldn't have had before.

00:16:42.000 --> 00:16:43.800
Let them do it.

00:16:43.800 --> 00:16:46.520
Give them some freedom,
and in general, let them play.

00:16:46.520 --> 00:16:48.381
Let them have fun at the workplace.

00:16:48.402 --> 00:16:50.999
We spend so much of our lives
at the workplace,

00:16:51.000 --> 00:16:53.334
and it's supposed to be,
what, a miserable grind,

00:16:53.335 --> 00:16:56.334
so that 20 years from now,
we wake up and say, "Was this it?

00:16:56.835 --> 00:16:58.499
Is that all there was?"

00:16:58.500 --> 00:17:00.499
Unacceptable. Nepriemlivo.

00:17:00.500 --> 00:17:02.500
(Laughter)

00:17:02.920 --> 00:17:04.919
So in summary,

00:17:04.940 --> 00:17:06.806
we need a drastic change

00:17:06.827 --> 00:17:08.826
in the way we think and behave,

00:17:09.500 --> 00:17:11.499
but we don't need

00:17:11.500 --> 00:17:13.758
a workers' revolution.

00:17:13.779 --> 00:17:15.778
We don't need a workers' revolution.

00:17:16.500 --> 00:17:17.813
What we need

00:17:17.834 --> 00:17:20.020
is a players' uprising.

00:17:20.040 --> 00:17:23.479
What we need is a players' uprising.

00:17:23.500 --> 00:17:25.499
What we need is a players' uprising.

00:17:25.500 --> 00:17:27.242
Seriously, we need to band together.

00:17:27.263 --> 00:17:28.990
Today is the start of the uprising.

00:17:29.011 --> 00:17:30.616
But what you need to do

00:17:30.637 --> 00:17:32.926
is fan the flames of the revolution.

00:17:32.947 --> 00:17:36.239
You need to go and share your ideas
and your success stories

00:17:36.260 --> 00:17:37.699
of what worked

00:17:37.720 --> 00:17:41.271
about reinvigorating
our lives, our schools,

00:17:41.292 --> 00:17:43.291
and our work with play;

00:17:43.755 --> 00:17:45.499
about how play promotes

00:17:45.500 --> 00:17:48.499
a sense of promise and self-fulfillment;

00:17:49.479 --> 00:17:53.274
of how play promotes
innovation and productivity,

00:17:53.479 --> 00:17:56.615
and, ultimately, how play creates meaning.

00:17:57.400 --> 00:18:00.241
Because we can't do it alone.
We have to do it together,

00:18:00.262 --> 00:18:03.261
and together, if we do this
and share these ideas on play,

00:18:03.282 --> 00:18:06.797
we can transform Bulgaria for the better.

00:18:07.765 --> 00:18:09.399
Thank you.

00:18:09.400 --> 00:18:10.541
(Applause)