A couple of years ago, Leighton wrote a long note to one of the CEOs in his Alloy Ventures portfolio about coming out of stealth-mode and introducing his company to the world. This has been passed around to other portfolio companies but has never appeared publicly. After being asked to serve as an “Xconomist” for the new on-line business news and content company, Xconomy, he has posted this advice on their website.
For Business Success, Keep Gamers Top-of-Mind
Occasionally we’ll tweet excerpts from our book, Total Engagement, and then give more context here on our blog:
Twitter Tidbit #17:
Successful businesses in the future will redesign work from the gamer’s point of view. Pg 8
Tweet in Context:
The office needs to catch up. Successful businesses in the future will redesign work from the gamer’s point of view. Businesses will create a workplace that accommodates employees (“players”) who want to know the rules, advance frequently, partner quickly, and nurture reputations in a narrative that aligns their own objectives with those of the organization that pays their salary. Gamers also want to have fun—not necessarily a constant party, but engagement that facilitates success and exposes their contribution to the larger good. Even if the idea of mixing work and play seems uncomfortable, it is worth careful consideration because the incoming workforce will demand a different set of tools, and competitors know it.
The full first chapter can be found here.
The Gaming Generation at Work
Occasionally we’ll tweet excerpts from our book, Total Engagement, and then give more context here on our blog:
Twitter Tidbit #16:
Gamers expect quick feedback (good or bad) and opportunities for trial and error. Risk is familiar, failure part of the game… Pg 8
Tweet in Context:
Should real work ever be as much fun as a game? It may need to be. The best young people entering the workforce will be engaged by experiences that allow their serious interactions to parallel playful ones. Gamers expect quick feedback (good or bad) and opportunities for trial and error. Risk is familiar, failure part of the game, and competition expected and governed by known rules. The new gamer generation is already in the workplace, but the work that awaits them shares little with the engaging computer experiences that shaped their youth.
The full first chapter can be found here.
Ten Ways Games Can Boost Your Career
In July, Oliver Chiang of Forbes published a piece about how playing video games can boost your career. The article included a colorful slide show of the 10 reasons why this is so. Most of the examples are from World of Warcraft. We are happy to see Forbes, picking up on the relevance of WoW when it comes to leadership and management.
This story draws on the important work of our friends, John Hagel and John Seely Brown at Delloitt’s Center for Edge Innovation and Ross Smith at Microsoft.
The focus of this article is on the transferability of skills honed in a game into the real world of work. We are very much in agreement.
The emphasis in our thinking is that these ideas and tools are way too good to be reserved for practicing to work. We think the elements of great games should be introduced into real everyday work.
Here is Oliver’s list:
- Leadership
- If at first you don’t succeed
- It’s about team work
- Developing talent
- Learning to improvise
- Performance-driven
- Living for challenges
- Competition
- Becoming an entrepreneur
- Managing information
For Hard Work, Games Clarify Objectives and Give Positive Reinforcement
Occasionally we’ll tweet excerpts from our book, Total Engagement, and then give more context here on our blog:
Twitter Tidbit #15:
Some work is too hard: productivity suffers because goals are in conflict or difficult to define. Pg 8
Tweet in Context:
Some work is too hard: productivity suffers because goals are in conflict or difficult to define. Sometimes it’s hard because the learning curve is too steep, or success takes a long time to achieve, or it’s not easy to measure and thus celebrate intermediate steps. Sometimes work is too hard because of interruptions and information overload. Sometimes work is too hard because other people make it that way. Good game design can fix poor work design and bring new life to well-designed jobs that are still too difficult to be satisfying. In these situations, game designs will offer new tools to clarify objectives that adapt to external challenges and will give immediate and intermediate reinforcement for progress accompanied by intrinsic training to ensure personal growth. These design principles are all mainstays of successful interactive games.
The full first chapter can be found here.
Gamify Boring Tasks for Engagement
Occasionally we’ll tweet excerpts from our book, Total Engagement, and then give more context here on our blog:
Twitter Tidbits #13 and 14:
Some work is too easy: productivity can’t be maintained because people become bored or tired by prolonged and tedious attention to detail. Pg 8
By embedding easy work into story lines and quests that are part of an extended multilevel game, workers will be more engaged… Pg 8
Tweets in Context:
Some work is too easy: productivity can’t be maintained because people become bored or tired by prolonged and tedious attention to detail. Turnover is high in these jobs. By embedding easy work into story lines and quests that are part of an extended multilevel game, workers will be more engaged, leading to increased productivity and enthusiasm for the job. Games can create aspirations that are concrete, observable, and transferable to others.
The full first chapter can be found here.
Gamification for Maximizing Employee Engagement
Recently, Byron and Leighton gave a keynote address at the LOGIN conference. Watch their speech about how businesses can and are using games to increase leadership and productivity among employees.
LOGIN 2010: Total Engagement: Using Games to Change How People Work from Cynthia L. Freese on Vimeo.
Will Gaming Lead to Better Businesses and Better People?
Have you watched Jesse Schell’s legendary DICE speech on the gamification of everyday life? If you haven’t, you should. And I mean really, all 28 minutes of it.
There are two main points that really hit home for me. The first because it deals with the thesis of Total Engagement (the Seriosity founders’ book on gaming in the corporate world), and the other because it is just so astounding. I’ll break them down below.
Point #1: Back to Reality. Schell points out that the recent major technological hits (WII, Farmville, Webkins, Guitar Hero) all have a few things in common. Paramount among these is the ability to break through to reality. Yes, these are games, but they all somehow bring us back to reality (WII=the physical body, Farmville=real friends on Facebook, Webkins=real stuffed animal, Guitar Hero= real guitar). This trend is also explored in the movie Avatar, for which we’ve already professed our admiration. Schell shows us that Avatar is all about how we can use technology to get back to nature—something ultimately real and genuine.
This is where the tie-in to serious gaming clicked for me. Employees can use games to cut through all of the corporate garbage that muddles up real achievement. Instead of PowerPoints and buzzwords, games allow people to focus on the task itself, and they are rewarded for doing so. By going virtual, real results are accomplished.
Point #2: Everything will be a game. Starting at about minute 21 of the video, Schell takes us through a day in the life of what he claims is the not so distant future. It’s absolutely riddled with games and bonus points and leveling up, and also full of advertisements for all of the companies that make these games possible. Just about when you’re sickened by the commercialization of it, he talks about how these games are making a living record of everything thing you do. For instance, your grandchildren will know every book you read because of the Kindle/Amazon game you played throughout your life. And then he brings up the ultimate question. Because of these games, and because of the everlasting record they create, will we make different choices and become better people? Or, could it drive unhealthy behavior, as we’ve talked about before?
What do you think?
Getting the Best out of Employees
Occasionally we’ll tweet excerpts from our book, Total Engagement, and then give more context here on our blog:
Twitter Tidbits #10, 11 and 12:
When workers are engaged by rewards that are intrinsic to their task rather than controlled by bosses, organizations can better decentralize. Pg 8
Well designed game environments can define work via loose hierarchies, where self-organizing behavior by player-workers is productive. Pg 8
Work can have a more compelling purpose, allowing people to be continuously reminded how their efforts contribute to something worthwhile. Pg 8
Tweets in Context:
When workers are engaged by rewards that are intrinsic to their task rather than controlled by bosses, organizations can better decentralize, allowing people to live where they want but play in the same game. Well designed game environments can define work via loose hierarchies, where self-organizing behavior by player-workers is productive. Work can be democratized, allowing people to choose the tasks they take on and to have influence on how and when the work is completed. Work can have a more compelling purpose, allowing people to be continuously reminded how their efforts contribute to something worthwhile and larger than themselves. Teams will convene, often on their own initiative, across organizational levels, departments, and cultures. Internal motivation will become more important than external persuasion, encouraging people’s best efforts.
The full first chapter can be found here.
Engaging to Compete
Occasionally we’ll tweet excerpts from our book, Total Engagement, and then give more context here on our blog:
Twitter Tidbit #9:
The future of work is about engaging workers more than commanding them. Pg 6
Tweet in Context:
Two trends—one concerning the future of work and one concerning the current state of digital play—are converging to make game technology a valuable business platform and an inevitable presence in the future of work. Regardless of whether we are on the way into or out of an economic downturn, the future of work is about engaging workers more than commanding them. This is certainly true in tough economic times, when innovation and collaboration are jeopardized by employees who are fearful or disappointed. People want to be engaged in work with a purpose, and they want insight into how their work is linked to larger organizational and societal goals. They want to know where they fit in. Competing in an upturn also demands a highly engaged workforce.
The full first chapter can be found here.
The authors
- Byron is the Paul C. Edwards Professor in the Department of Communication at Stanford University, and Co-Founder and Faculty Co-Director of the H-STAR Institute and Media X.
- J. Leighton Read, M.D., is a General Partner in four Alloy Ventures funds from 2001-2007 and a successful entrepreneur and CEO.
Total Engagement
A book on using games and virtual worlds to change the way that people work and businesses compete.
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