Playful work

Playful work: A Catalyst for Innovation!

A one-day workshop presented by Alex Aitken and Gino Marckx.

Workshop Context

It’s becoming common knowledge that we learn best by engaging as many parts of our brain as possible. More and more this knowledge is used in training and education, as proven by the many well-known agile games and the evolution of training techniques like “Teaching from the back of the room”.
But games have significant benefits outside of teaching as well. They can be applied to do day-to-day work and, amongst other things, help opening up everybody's mind to deliver innovative products. Games are fun and they help team members to be engaged, focused and allow for insights produced by thinking out of the box.

Intended Audience

Pre-requisites: none

  • Scrum Masters, Agile Coaches
  • Team Members, Team Leads, Project Managers

Course Content and structure

You will be introduced to the theory of gamestorming and explain how it fosters innovation, fun at work and how it increases motivation and accountability.

Then you will play a number of games that are used for prioritization, planning, product ideation and analyzing complex situations. You will review and discuss each and every one of these games in relation to the theory: does it achieve it's goal, what are the challenges with the game, how can we improve the results, which circumstances demand for adjustments to the game? YOU will select the games we play, of course in a playful way!
After the theory and some examples of games, currently used in the industry, you are ready to create your own games to deal with your own challenges. You will work in groups and apply the theory to create games that you can start using as soon as you get back to work!

Presenter Biography
Alex Aitken has been working in the software development industry since 2004.  He has gained experience in work environments ranging from small start-ups to large companies.  In the past 8 years Alex has successfully worked as a developer, team lead, coach and even trade show salesmen.  Currently, Alex is a consultant at Thoughtcorp, helping customers and teams apply Agile principles and deliver successful software projects.

Over the past several years, Alex has gained an appreciation for the demands and discipline of good software development.  He has found that XP engineering practices paired with creating high levels of engagement and satisfaction at work prove most effective at delivering high value software.   While working at Thoughtcorp, Alex is known to be passionately involved in creating opportunities for developers to improve their skills, regularly using games and playful work to raise team engagement. 

Outside of the office Alex enjoys involvement in the greater development community.  He is currently an organizer for the AgileTour Toronto.


As the Agile Practice Lead for Thoughtcorp, Gino Marckx is responsible for the development and promotion of Thoughtcorp's Agile+ program. He has a wealth of experience in software development processes, Scrum, XP, Lean, Kanban, coaching and business analysis.

Gino's agile career began in 2002, when he started working with some of Belgium's most prominent Agile promoters. Very soon after that, he joined the Belgian XP/Agile User Group and became actively involved in promoting Agile techniques and practices. As a consultant he has shifted his practice to coaching individuals and organizations as they embrace Agile. Gino strongly relies on his passion for team dynamics, his experience in leadership positions, and his technical expertise.

Gino is an active member of the Agile community. In 2009, he co-founded the Toronto Agile Software Development Community and he is actively involved as a participant and speaker in a number of Agile user groups.

Gino likes to spend his spare time with family and friends enjoying cycling, travel, art, music, poetry and bragging about the supreme quality of Belgian beer.

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