As June comes to a close, Beyond the Boardroom concludes its editorial focus on The Power of Play while introducing Five Minutes With, a new interview series exploring the leaders shaping business, culture and luxury. At the centre of its debut is Magda Wolder, Innovation Marketing Director at Creative Play Lab, the LEGO Group’s experimental innovation division, who reflects on where creativity demands discipline, how the strongest ideas emerge from curiosity rather than certainty, and why the leaders who will define the age of AI are those who can imagine what machines cannot.

The word “play” still triggers scepticism in many boardrooms. How do you personally define play as a leadership tool, and what does it definitively not mean?

I define play as an enjoyable activity with no immediate purpose. Say that in a boardroom, and you’d probably be shown the door! After all, play doesn’t appear on any company’s objectives and key results (OKRs) or key performance indicators (KPIs). You can’t measure it in a quarterly report. What you can measure however, is creativity, motivation, innovation and wellbeing. Those are outcomes every business cares about. It takes confident leadership to recognise that sometimes the most valuable results come from making space for something that isn’t directly tied to a deliverable. To me, play isn’t about producing an output. I don’t mind the team spending time wandering down creative, playful avenues from time to time. In fact, I encourage it. The ideas we have after we’ve played are different. And that’s exactly the point.

How do you personally protect your own capacity for play, given that your role demands a high degree of structure and accountability?

Environment is everything. I try to surround myself with tactile, screen-free activities that are always within easy reach. At home, my mild obsession with Japanese stationery is slowly getting out of control. At the office, I’m lucky enough to have LEGO bricks and sets scattered everywhere. I find genuine joy in building, whether that’s spending 20 minutes with a set before the workday begins or absent-mindedly fiddling with loose bricks during a meeting. I also make a conscious effort to bring play into family life. My teenage daughter, despite being a self-proclaimed “not-a-kid-anymore,” is thankfully still game for the activities I dream up. We recently played the National Parks board game and Cards Against Humanity Family Edition (don’t worry!), and it was such a joy to spend an evening together without screens competing for our attention.

If you really struggle to get out of your own head, ask yourself, if a six-year-old was given this problem, what would they do? If a teenager was given this problem, what would they do? If my mum was given this problem, what would she do?

In an era of algorithms and AI, what role does human imagination play in maintaining influence and competitive advantage?

It matters now more than ever. Like many leaders, I see AI as a tool for generation, and its ability to generate content quickly and convincingly will only continue to improve. However, creating something with real substance still requires human ingenuity and human judgement to steer it. The idea itself will always impress me more than a shockingly accurate and realistic AI-generated output. I recently gave a talk on Graceful Leadership, and a big part of that framework is becoming comfortable with forming your own point of view. What you think matters more than what AI can generate. I believe the most important leadership skills today are critical thinking, sound judgement and imagination. Imaginative leaders will always outperform operational excellence alone.

Many people see creativity as a soft skill. In your experience, when does creativity become a hard business advantage?

There are a couple of critical points where the rubber meets the road. I look at creativity when assessing new products that come to market. Do we have a proposition that is truly desirable and viable? Then I look at how it enters the market. Do we have compelling ways to launch and communicate that proposition? Creativity is essential in both because we have a major saturation problem and consumers face endless choice. We swim in solutions, so what your brand offers needs a creative edge. We swim in advertising, so what your brand says, and how it shows up, needs a creative edge too.

There are industries where a playful approach to strategy seems almost impossible such as law, regulated finance, critical infrastructure. What would you say directly to a leader in one of those sectors reading this right now?

I simply don’t accept this as truth. A brief to make regulated finance more interesting and engaging, like any other brief, comes down to human insight and business outcomes. It just so happens that it’s not only exciting, but it might matter even more than toothpaste. If I got a brief to make people care about law, health or regulation, I would do what I always do: look at where the tension is. Tension and friction are where most creativity shines. And if you really struggle, get out of your own head. Ask yourself, if a six-year-old was given this problem, what would they do? If a teenager was given this problem, what would they do? If my mum was given this problem, what would she do?

I would encourage business schools not to focus solely on providing the formula, but instead to nurture human courage, curiosity and critical thinking

What is one thing you would change about how business education prepares future executives?

This is a great question. I would love to see more emphasis on critical thinking and creative problem-solving, but most importantly, I would love to see every executive realise and understand that they are the powerhouse of creativity, not the course, not the formula, and not mastering AI. Their gut matters today more than ever. I would encourage business schools not to focus solely on providing the formula, but instead to nurture human courage, curiosity and critical thinking.

What has been the most important leadership lesson you’ve learned while working for a global brand in Asia?

I’ve had the privilege of working for some amazing global brands throughout my career. While I’ve always operated in environments defined by immense pressure, complexity and high stakes, a norm in creative and innovation environments and a natural habitat for me, I’ve recently come to appreciate the importance of grace, patience and strategic commitment more than blind speed. It’s easy to get lost chasing the shiny object. It’s hard to do what matters.

Which professional failure do you now look back on as your best moment of play, the moment you allowed yourself to take a real risk and get it wrong?

We say in our team: fail often, fail fast. This is where a mindset of experimentation helps, as long as you learn something. I have to say, though, that my most valuable leadership lessons felt more like “journeys” rather than isolated “flops.” Some of the greatest lessons came from people who demonstrated poise and restraint. Observing leaders who gave their teams the space to create and innovate reshaped my own approach to leadership. I looked at teams that operated on trust and support while being candidly open, so I learned from them. The biggest risk I take every day is to trust myself. I practice strengthening this muscle every day.

Inspiration came from leaders who demonstrated poise and restraint. Equally influential were those who created space for their teams to think, create, and innovate with patience. Teams built on trust, mutual support, and candid openness offered another powerful example of leadership in action. Those experiences shaped my own approach far more than any single mistake ever could.