PLAY: Why You Need to Stop Planning and Start Exploring
C'mon, live a little.
“Literally my entire career has been built on just experiments, just pushing it here, pushing it there. That's how I've built influence, how I've stayed relevant. You need grit, a little crazy, and a lot of audacity to stand out in this landscape.” - Mark Schaefer
Let’s reflect for a moment. We’ve been talking about a mindset shift for the better part of two years. Or at least I have. And sure, I’ve seen some forward-thinking leaders get behind the idea that we can’t treat AI like any other technology—we have to change the way we think, forget about traditional “click here, select the seventh dropdown category, enter your case-sensitive 64-character project code in the dialogue box, check those two boxes, make sure to toggle the thingy, then click save” approach to software training.
But so far, not much has changed. We still approach AI like a piece of novel software, a Word upgrade, a solution looking for a problem.
I know this is true because patterns that could be and should be interrupted still hold so many of us in their clutches. Take planning, for instance.
We all know how communicators and marketers love to plan. Oh, how we strategize. Think things through. You know it’s true—I’ve got a few gigabytes of PowerPoint files to prove it.
In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if right at this very moment, you’re crafting careful implementation plans for technologies that defy careful implementation. Perhaps you’re demanding case studies for applications that barely exist. Or you’re designing elaborate governance structures for tools that will be obsolete before your policy document makes it through legal review.
Meanwhile, audiences fracture further and further each day. Channels multiply. Trust erodes. The media has forgotten about you. And you're still trying to solve these chaotic new problems with linear, orderly, old thinking.
What if there's a better way? One where we embrace the chaos rather than pretending we can beat it back into order?
When Did You Become So Afraid to Play?
"Having that curiosity at the forefront of everything you do is essential in today's world. Being adaptable and flexible as times change and things shift, not being married to the position you were in five or ten years ago, but being open to new things - that's how you discover breakthrough approaches." — Ashley Dennison
When was the last time you indulged your curiosity and explored without fear? When you tried things just to see what would happen? (Clarification for fellow Gen Xers: I’m talking about work; our personal bona fides are not in question.)
Somewhere along our professional journey, we developed an allergy to exploration. We started demanding certainty before experimentation. We began requiring clarity in an inherently foggy atmosphere. Planning, defining our boundaries and limits, became our signature achievement, imposing order, giving us those warm, cuddly, safe vibes.
But alas, AI parachuted in, outflanking our brilliant strategery. The most valuable AI use cases won't emerge from planning sessions. AI applications and novel solutions come from systematic exploration—from asking “I wonder if we could” rather than declaring “This is how we must.”
Look at how transformation actually happens. Did content marketing emerge from committee planning? Did social media strategy develop through staged implementation? Or did creators experiment, discover possibilities, and then formalize their findings?
They wondered. They chased ideas. They played.
PLAY: A Framework for Structured Exploration
I thought about this for what some might consider an unhealthy amount of time, and decided that what we really need is another framework. Yes, I see the contradiction in proposing yet another structure after I’ve been burning your eyes with an anti-planning screed. But bear with me.
The PLAY framework isn't just another methodology. It's an invitation to rediscover what made us effective: curiosity, exploration, and the courage to discover before others do.
Let's explore the four components that make PLAY such a powerful framework for discovery:
P - Play Without Purpose
This initial stage demands protected space for exploration without deliverables, ROI justifications, or artificial constraints.
"I would say it's really use it. Just play with it and get comfortable with it because the more you use it, the more you understand its value." — Gini Dietrich
This isn't innovation theater - it's recognizing that the most valuable applications of emergent technologies rarely match our preconceived notions. By exploring without immediate purpose, you discover capabilities and connections that goal-directed exploration systematically misses.
And let's be clear: this isn't about having an "innovation lab" where people play with tech demos. It's about giving communicators time to experiment with AI tools against their actual work challenges without demanding immediate practical applications.
L - Look What Happened!
The second stage transforms random exploration into strategic intelligence through systematic documentation and pattern recognition.
"Be an observer… We take in a lot of information. Something that I do a lot is I synthesize that and then I figure out, like, how that information is going to affect decisions that I make." — David Armano
While most organizations rush to implement their first discovery, the PLAY framework privileges observation over immediate application. This builds an intelligence advantage that methodical implementation can't match.
Key questions at this stage:
What unexpected capabilities emerged during exploration?
What patterns connect different discoveries?
Which findings challenge our assumptions about what's possible?
Where do these capabilities intersect with our communications challenges?
A - Absolutely Useful
The third stage bridges exploration and application by connecting experimental findings to specific communications challenges. This is where strategic assessment determines which discoveries warrant further development.
"Be experimental, but, like, strategically experimental in the sense that in order to solve a problem. Right. So I would say start trying to think of the problems you have and research ways that AI could possibly help you solve them." — Kami Huyse
Critical questions include:
Which seemingly intractable communications problems might this new capability solve?
How might this discovery transform our approach to audience engagement?
What competitive advantage could this create that traditional approaches can't match?
Which discovery has the highest potential impact relative to implementation difficulty?
Y - Yes, Let's Do This!
"We're all learning alongside ourselves, together, and at the same time building the use cases…across our business services functions, which is inclusive of finance and marketing and comms and human capital, and really learning what was working and what wasn't..." — Megan Noel
The final stage transforms validated discoveries into formalized methodologies, client offerings, or internal processes. This includes:
Developing implementation frameworks that scale the discovery
Creating training that enables broader organizational adoption
Building measurement approaches that demonstrate impact
Establishing the discovery as a competitive advantage
Imagining PLAY in Action: Potential Communications Breakthroughs
How can communications teams apply the PLAY framework to innovate and invent? While these examples are hypothetical, think of them as the kinds of discoveries that can happen when we shift from implementation to exploration.
The Narrative Vulnerability Detector
Play: Imagine a crisis communications team feeding years of negative media coverage about their industry to various AI systems, experimenting with different prompting approaches without preconceived outcomes.
Look: During exploration, they notice certain AI responses consistently identify potential reputation threats that their human analysts and monitoring tools typically overlook, particularly emerging narrative patterns that haven't yet reached mainstream attention.
Absolutely Useful: This capability could transform crisis preparedness by revealing blind spots in traditional scenario planning and identifying emerging issues before they gain traction.
Yes, Let's Do This: The team could develop a "Narrative Vulnerability Framework" that regularly scans for emerging reputation threats, giving them advance warning of issues that competitors might miss until they've already gained momentum.
The Content Connector
Play: Picture a marketing team experimenting with NotebookLM, feeding disconnected pieces of existing content into the system and asking it to identify non-obvious connections and themes.
Look: Through documentation and pattern recognition, they begin to see how certain prompting approaches reveal thematic connections and content opportunities hidden within their existing assets.
Absolutely Useful: This capability could address the perpetual challenge of generating fresh content while maintaining message consistency across channels.
Yes, Let's Do This: The team could formalize a "Content Archaeology" methodology that systematically uncovers new value in existing content investments, extending their usefulness and strengthening narrative consistency.
The Audience Intelligence Accelerator
Play: Consider a strategy team experimenting with feeding social listening data into Claude, asking it to generate speculative audience personas based on conversation patterns, without any predetermined format or outcome.
Look: Through systematic exploration, they might discover prompting approaches that reveal audience motivations and segments that traditional research methods consistently miss.
Absolutely Useful: This capability could address the fundamental challenge of developing messages that resonate with increasingly fragmented audience segments.
Yes, Let's Do This: The team could develop a "Generative Audience Intelligence" approach that complements traditional research, potentially uncovering insights that lead to more relevant, resonant messaging across channels.
Getting Started Isn’t Hard
"I just, I follow the rabbit holes and that's kind of what I think is the joy of being a human... And the secret is to stay curious." — Emanuel Rose
Chances are, you’re already spending time in play mode. Next time you’re “just messing around” with AI—creating an action figure of yourself, a 3-second video of cats with hats, or trying out Deep Research to see if it knows about you (it does)—pause for a moment. Ask yourself if you’ve learned anything new, and when your answer inevitably comes back in the affirmative, congratulations, you’ve made a great start. But how can you implement PLAY at work?
Start Small but Significant
Schedule bi-weekly "exploration sessions" (an hour or two) with your team
Begin with one AI tool and one specific content challenge
Document findings in a simple, shareable format
Connect discoveries to existing priorities to demonstrate relevance
Build Your Discovery Infrastructure
Create a system for capturing and sharing discoveries
Develop an assessment framework for evaluating potential applications
Establish pathways to move promising discoveries toward implementation
Build a case study from your first success to justify expansion
Reframe Your Conversation
Redefine "efficiency" to include discovery of better approaches
Position exploration as risk mitigation in a changing environment
Document innovations that emerged from exploration, not planning
Calculate the opportunity cost of delayed innovation
Play in the Sandbox, don’t Bury Your Head in it
There's a couple different camps of people. Different camps people typically fall into when they think about the future of our profession. And one of those camps is maybe more of like one that is defined by fear… There's fear of where things are going. There's fear of what AI is going to do. There's fear of the complexity of the world we're living in and what that means for people and companies and brands and those who work for all of them. Then there's another camp. Right. And that, and the defining characteristic of that is more around excitement. Right?… It's excitement about the increasing importance of communications and corporate affairs in the mix… And my one piece of advice to everybody is… Be in the excitement camp. — Jim O’Leary
Your ability to rapidly discover and deploy novel approaches isn't a luxury - it's survival.
Most organizations will continue their baby-steps approach to AI. They'll demand fully vetted use cases before exploration and ROI projections before experimentation. Maybe they’re just being cautious. Or maybe they’re paralyzed by fear of making mistakes, incurring the ire of their legal department, or taking risks that won’t pay off right away.
They'll watch in bewilderment as you develop capabilities they didn't know were possible.
The choice is yours: Lead through systematic discovery? Or keep a low profile and wait around for others to innovate?
The PLAY framework offers your path forward - a structured approach to exploration that bridges curiosity and strategic advantage.
The only question: Are you ready to play?
Is play—unfettered experimentation—part of your AI approach? If so, tell me how. Drop a comment below or hit me up on LinkedIn. And don't forget to subscribe to The Trending Communicator podcast for more insights on navigating this wild, AI-powered world.
Notes
This post is AI-assisted, and roughly 60% of the content is AI-generated. Here’s how I did it:
The core idea - the PLAY Framework - is 100% mine, and I used Claude to help me flesh out the steps and stages.
I used Google Notebook LM to pull together quotes and insights from guests of The Trending Communicator to see what they thought about the PLAY Framework. All of the quotes in this article are from The Trending Communicator transcripts.
I used the Project I had already set up in Claude to draft newsletter content and gave it the outputs I had just generated on Notebook LM. I went through multiple iterations, adjusting prompts and adding reference content along the way
I cut and pasted the text into Substack, edited the copy, added in the hyperlinks, and then generated the hero image and one additional image using Midjourney.
I then used ChatGPT to create the image of the PLAY Framework.