A short spoken excerpt by Bill Gallagher (YouTube) recounting the documented 1914 Christmas Truce when German and British soldiers ceased fire, exchanged food and cigarettes, sang carols, and played a game of soccer. The speaker uses this historical example to argue that introducing playfulness in the workplace can foster connection and reduce conflict.
The infamous Christmas truce of December 1914 during World War I. There is a story, true, documented story, of German and British soldiers putting down their guns, literally had been shooting at each other, killing each other the day before on Christmas Day, they put down their guns. They crossed enemy lines. They started giving each other gifts of cigarettes and food. They were singing Christmas carols. And the best part of this for me is there was a documented case of a game of soccer occurring on the battlefield. A soccer ball came out and troops started playing soccer. The war stopped because people started to play. And I think that is incredibly powerful. If play can stop war, imagine how powerful play can be if you integrate a little playfulness inside your workplace.
