Research shows that joy and high performance are tightly correlated, so it's worth asking: why don't we play more? And how can the power of play help us produce better, more innovative, and more personally satisfying work? In this episode, J.B. and Molly speak with Lauren Cooke, the creative director behind diverse brands like Alamo Drafthouse, Mondo, Snap Kitchen, and Bestow Life Insurance. Her insights reveal the transformative power of joy and play in creating ideas that are just weird enough to connect with. We also dive into the stickiness of using AI to drive creativity and close with thoughts on working with or being introverts in the creative process. Grab some Play-Doh for this one! "You have to consciously decide to carve out time to be silly, to do something weird... Going through some paths that won't work out makes the final product sing." - Lauren Cooke 0:13 Intro 3:20 Give Me The Weird 6:49 Hire, Fire, Boss! 12:11 Encouraging Play in the Workplace 19:17 Introverts in Structured Brainstorms 22:02 On Ambition 24:52 AI's Impact on Art and Creativity 31:05 Reflections and outro Check out Lauren's clay animations on Instagram and connect on LinkedIn. Mentioned in this episode: - Lauren's favorite fidget clay (don't forget the eyeballs) Follow Unserious in your podcast app, at unserious.com, and on Instagram and Threads at @unserious.fun.