UberNoggin

Why do we like games? It’s not necessarily competition, cool graphics, or even escape. I would suggest that, above all, we like games because, unlike real life, there are set goals with set rewards. We know that if we defeat enemy X we’ll get new armor or a new ability or a sack of gold. We know that if we try hard enough we’ll get the recognition of reaching a new level of the game. How is this different from real life? Well imagine if your job as a game.  You do the same tasks every day for the same rewards (pay check or keeping your job). Occasionally you may be presented with a new challenge but it’s probably the result of someone else’s failure or a new kind of task. The challenge probably isn’t being offered to you to encourage your growth or to increase your skills. As a game, your job would be a dismal failure, right?

Now imagine if your job was a good game. One structured to challenge you, give you goals with tangible rewards, in a system where you could see whether other folks are achieving their goals and whether they have new skills that will compliment your own efforts. Sounds too good to be true?

A recent post from 3pointD about Seriosity’s study of work and games has me thinking:  “Today’s gamers are learning collaboration, self-organization, risk-taking, openness, influence, and how to earn incentives linked to performance and be flexible in the way they communicate.”  I couldn’t agree more but I worry that the 18 year old who heads up his own guild in WOW, organizes huge raids, coordinates hundreds of people with a variety of important skills etc isn’t allowed to translate those skills in the work place or in his education. Is it possible to organize a company like a good game? Let’s imagine what that would be like by comparing elements from an RPG and how they would translate into the work place.

Creating a character

What if when you started a new job you were given a comprehensive battery of tests evaluating your aptitudes in a number of skills that are valued by your employer? For each skill there would be a score letting you know how your skill levels match up with certain responsibilities of your job, thereby pinpointing exactly the areas where you should endeavor to improve.  These profiles would be available to everyone in the company for team building and project management. Need someone good at event planning? Look at the “company character sheets” and find someone whose planning aptitude is high and put them on the project.

I know, I can already hear the HR people screaming. How could we possible expose an employee’s weaknesses to the rest of the company? What kind of legal problems are we opening ourselves up to when we encourage this kind of transparency? I, for one, would be fine with the folks I work with knowing exactly what I’m good at and making use of those skills. I’d also be happy with them knowing that I’m working hard to improve other skills.

Raids

In an MMORPG you assemble a team of people with complementary skills. You know my looking at their profiles that they have certain abilities and that they’ve achieved specific levels of skill. As a leader, you know that the campaign you’re about to run will require certain skills and you can assemble a team of folks who can accomplish it. Some companies certainly do this but then politics get involved and unqualified people are put into teams and projects get muddled. The transparency of skills required to accomplish effective team building would, no doubt, expose people who aren’t qualified, but it could also motivate them to work hard to acquire new skills.

Leveling Up

You grind; you kill a hundred boring creatures to get that next level. Yes, but meanwhile you’re perfecting your efficiency at a specific skill. The tasks you must complete to (im)prove that mastery are clear and well defined. How is this different from the real world? Very different. You may work in a company where personal growth isn’t really valued, where learning new skills isn’t facilitated in the company so you’re left with floundering in a job you don’t like or trying to learn things on your own and then trying to let the powers-that-be at work know you’re good at something new. Standardized skill acquisition and a way to prove that you’ve learned them would stream line the process of promotions, team placement, and work assignments.

Is this kind of structure the future of business? I think so. As today’s gamer generation becomes tomorrow’s manager and entrepreneur I really hope they’ll translate the skills they’ve learned in games to the work place.

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