Whitespace: When productivity is the name of the gameIssue 35: March 2008 Five years ago if you read on a resume that someone was a Guild Master in a massively multiplayer online role playing game (MMORPG) you might not be overly impressed. A more attractive hobby for a prospective employee might be a passion for amateur triathlons or even habitually completing crosswords in the Sunday papers… but things have changed. The common perception that video games are for introverted slackers, not high achieving leaders is evaporating quickly. In Europe and the US a growing number of businesses are coming to understand that the attributes possessed by gamers are a perfect fit for highly effectively workers in today’s complex, fast-paced business environment. State of play If you were to take a quick poll of your workplace you’re almost certain to find someone who is (or knows) an online gaming warrior, shaman or healer. A fringe pursuit just a few years ago, the popularity of online games is growing rapidly with World of Warcraft, EVE Online and EverQuest leading the charge. World of Warcraft – arguably the world’s most popular MMORPG with well over eight million players – consists of constantly evolving fantasy landscapes in which players can join forces with other online players to fight battles and undertake quests. Taken at face value these games might seem like just another outlet for harmless escapism. However, many commentators argue that gaming skills are exactly what managers need to be at the top of their game in our increasingly digitally focused workplaces. Writing about the trend in this Harvard Business Review’s ‘Breakthrough Ideas for 2008’ supplement, John Seely-Brown and Douglas Thomas make the argument that online gamers are considerably more adept at problem solving and innovation focused than non-gamers. According to these authors, gamers thrive on continual change, see learning as enjoyable and are always looking for a better way to achieve a goal. Most importantly for a company’s bottom line, gamers enjoy being evaluated through ranking systems. According to Seely-Brown and Thomas: “Their goal is not to be rewarded but to improve. Game worlds are meritocracies where assessment is symmetrical (leaders are assessed just as players are), and after-action reviews are meaningful only as ways of enhancing individual and group performance”. Not surprisingly, game developers and consultants are busily looking for ways to harness this passion and bring it into the workplace. Gaming’s serious side World of Warcraft is more than just a game for Stanford University researchers who believe the exquisitely rendered fantasy world is capable of offering insights into the management of real world companies. To prove the point they are using the game to trial a range of alternative management strategies, including a ‘temporary management’ paradigm in which leadership is job shared. Like fight simulators, online world environments provide an ideal place to make mistakes, to push boundaries; but simulating management experiences is just one possible use of games at work. Responding to the entry into the workforce of the Nintendo generation (individuals reared on computer games almost since birth) a number of businesses are embracing game mechanics for training, recruitment and communication purposes. To improve collaboration amongst its employees Philips Electronics recently introduced a game called ‘Simplicity Showdown’. According to BusinessWeek, the month long game involved a virtual treasure hunt across a 3D world with a series of questions about company’s strategic direction posed at key locations including the pyramids at Giza and Sydney Opera House. The aim was to get people talking, and that it did. As a result of the ‘Simplicity Showdown’ experience, nearly 60 per cent of the managers and staff involved in the initiative held a greater number of discussion sessions than was required. Diversity is another benefit of harnessing the gamer’s disposition. In games like World of Warcraft, diversity is not just accepted but required as characters with distinctive skills sets are often needed to fulfil tasks within a guild (a group of characters working towards a shared goal). For example, a player who takes on the character of a healer has limited skills during individual play, however their ability to heal other injured characters makes them an integral part of any team. The means in which collaboration takes place in online games is also a solid training ground for real world communication. In online games, complex quests and large scale battles are undertaken by a network of people using an array of communications tools including VoIP, instant messaging, online chat and website forums; the efficient use of this array of tools translates particularly well to organisations with multiple sites and remote or ‘third place’ workers. Time to play? The next generation to enter the workforce has grown up with video games; they are adept at learning through doing, at ignoring instruction manuals in favour of relying on their own resourcefulness. The introduction of game mechanics into organisational processes responds to these skills. It does, however, call for a change in mindset. Advocates claim workplace gaming isn’t just about relaxation, they argue that it’s exactly what businesses need to help manage the growing complexity of corporate life. If the future of work is highly distributed, global, hyper-competitive and virtual – as a recent IBM report on the topic suggests – gaming represents an opportunity to channel the ‘gamer’s disposition’ in order overcome information and communication overload and boost productivity in the process. The gaming landscape
Source: ‘Virtual Worlds, Real Leaders: Online games put the future of business leadership on display’ IBM (2007) Whitespace is published monthly by the Australian Institute of Management - Qld & NT. Sign up to have a copy sent direct to your mailbox. |
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