How play is the secret to success at work (w/ Maxwell Pearce)

How to Be a Better Human

Why is it so fun to watch your team win in the World Cup or to be a Knicks fan as they finally get an NBA championship? There’s a collective joy in sports that can also be found in art, theater, and comedy. In this episode of How to Be a Better Human with Maxwell Pearce, Chris talks to him about his accomplishments as a mixed media artist and a Harlem Globetrotter. Maxwell integrates playfulness into his art and in sports—whether it’s using shoelaces as texture in his artwork or training his body to perform a basketball trick shot. Maxwell shares how play is the secret ingredient in his career and how changing the way he thinks about the rules and mistakes allows him to have more fun and more successes.


Find more ways you can make more room for play in your life with PLAY@TED. Learn more from conversations, ideas and moments at ted.com/play


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For the full text transcript, visit go.ted.com/BHTranscripts


Fill out our survey at bit.ly/BHSurvey6

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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Why is it so fun to watch your team win in the World Cup or to be a Knicks fan as they finally get an NBA championship? There’s a collective joy in sports that can also be found in art, theater, and comedy. In this episode of How to Be a Better Human with Maxwell Pearce, Chris talks to him about his accomplishments as a mixed media artist and a Harlem Globetrotter. Maxwell integrates playfulness into his art and in sports—whether it’s using shoelaces as texture in his artwork or training his body to perform a basketball trick shot. Maxwell shares how play is the secret ingredient in his career and how changing the way he thinks about the rules and mistakes allows him to have more fun and more successes.


Find more ways you can make more room for play in your life with PLAY@TED. Learn more from conversations, ideas and moments at ted.com/play


Featured guest



Connect with the team


For the full text transcript, visit go.ted.com/BHTranscripts


Fill out our survey at bit.ly/BHSurvey6

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

2026-06-29 40 min
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