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Got Game
1980s-era Nintendo-thumbed teenagers are now adults moving into senior positions in the workforce. As they move up, a cultural rift is forming in the workforce between the old guard who've never held a controller, and those who grew up hunting for the Triforce. Got Game proposes how to bridge this gap.
Beck and Wade argue that a massive culture gap began in the '80s when video game systems like the NES suddenly appeared in tens of millions of households across North America. Games radically reshaped youth for a whole generation by creating a new leisure activity with a distinctive culture. Ever since, gaming has become deeply embedded in our society and in the lives of each cohort over the last two decades.
At its core, Got Game is a guide for senior managers stumped at how to manage their gamer employees. Its purpose is to teach them that they must treat video games as serious preparation for the workforce, and that gamers possess a unique set of skills necessary in the modern business world:
"Anyone who actually looks at the games selling and being played knows that the typical video game is not the blood-spattering, media-grabbing, parent stressing cartoon that makes the nightly news on a slow or tragic day. Instead, it's a massive problem solving exercise wrapped in the veneer of an exotic adventure. Or it's the detailed simulation of an entire civilization, or a pivotal battle that affected the course of world history. Or it's a serious opportunity to try coaching a sports team or setting military strategy. In short, even if their surface is violent, sexist, or simpleminded (which is not true nearly as often as non-gamers believe), games are incredibly complex computer programs that lead the brain to new combinations of cognitive tasks."
The book is divided into two parts. The first three chapters are a primer for non-gamers, outlining video game culture, dispelling myths, and generally building the case for treating games and gamers seriously. Chapters four through eight, though, are where I thought the most innovative thinking lies. Here the authors draw explicit parallels between the skills people hone to win video games, and those needed in our global, techno-centric workforce. These chapters also go the extra distance by instructing managers on how to restructure their style to harness the skills in their gamer employees.
As a casual gamer, I found these aspects of the book helpful. By outlining the instances where managers and executives from outside the game generation don't see things the way I do, and then translating into terms they can understand, it is possible for me to effectively bridge the culture gap. Building understanding and common language reduces tension, making work less stressful, more fulfilling (and ultimately more like a video game!)
Here are some of the top insights in the book for non-gaming managers:
Tap into the gamer instinct for heroism
Gamers "have a hero's appetite for a challenge that requires full attention. Meeting these needs, giving the potential heroes who work for you a challenge that will inspire extreme efforts - can unleash enormous commitment."
Don't let superficial badges of culture mislead you
"Remember the old fogies who thought men with long hair automatically couldn't be trusted? We boomers now have the chance to replicate the fogies' mistake, or to build on major assets that out less open-minded peers overlook."
Don't dismiss gamers' ability to focus and multitask
"Gamer employees will prefer to be surrounded by extraneous noise and attentional clutter. They might want to have two or three activities assigned to them at once so that when they tire of one, they can move to the next, and then come back to the first when they have something useful to add."
Manage your teams as group video games
"Structure team assignments like a game, providing clear high-level direction but also lots of room to explore. Tell your team, 'here are the boundaries; you can't go outside them, but inside try anything - open all the doors, run into the walls, find a way to succeed.'"
Beck and Wade support their points of view with a commissioned study involving 2,500 business people. Graphed results are presented throughout comparing how gamers and non-games view risk, teamwork, decision-making, and responses to authority. While I realize that providing statistical support of ideas is essential, I didn't find the graphs or conclusions very compelling.
What I do appreciate is that in publishing this book, Harvard Business School Press is sending signals to the business community that video games are an important part of our culture and that we ought to consider the serious impact gaming is having in offices throughout the country.
The scope of this book goes beyond the 'important books for managers' genre. Proactive employees could easily benefit from strategically giving a copy to a boss to kickoff a conversation on refining a working relationship. For the more adventurous gamer, I'd recommend absorbing the business insights and using them to manage upward and get ahead in the workplace.
This will not be the last book about gamers in the workplace, but it does a good job kicking off the genre. I extend thanks to Beck and Wade for bringing attention to this real phenomenon.
Reviewer Eli Singer lives in Toronto. Apart from technology consulting, he blogs at singer.to and sends biking tours to Europe. You can purchase Got Game from bn.com. Slashdot welcomes readers' book reviews -- to see your own review here, read the book review guidelines, then visit the submission page.
Can someone give me a one sentance summery of the article? I'm in the middle of playing World of Warcraft while I should be debugging some filter engine code and cant be bothered to read it all.
"Have you ever thought about just turning off the TV, sitting down with your kids, and hitting them?"
what's your frags per minute?
Computer games don't affect kids, I mean if Pac Man affected us as kids, we'd all be running around in darkened rooms, munching pills and listening to repetitive music.
With credit to Marcus Brigstocke.
Bill Clinton: Pimp we can believe in. - The Shirt!!!
for some reason my boss doesn't apprecient me fragging my co-workers
hack a day
If you grew up with games, you can use this book to teach your boss how to appreciate your gaming abilities in the workplace.
My TK'ing skills came in really handy last time we had a cutback, saving a substantial amount in redundancy payments for the company and my boss occasionally gets me to TW anyone he feels in not pulling their weight on the team.
Do not try to read the dupe, thats impossible. Instead, only try to realize the truth
What truth?
There is no dupe
If you "Got Game", then all your base are belong to us. A winner is you!
mastering the ALT-TAB while keeping a consistent facial expression.
up up down down left right left right a b select start
PtPete
Somebody didn't make it past the Pretzel level! :)
Oh how my family criticized me, saying things like "you won't be able to put your Contra high score on a resume."
The day I dreamed of is getting closer...
Click here for a free picture of an iPod!
I'm old and all, but I'm pretty sure I remember it as
U U D D L R L R B A Start
Whoa... Turns out I was right
My video game skills did pay for something! Gimme mod points, gimme mod points, gimme mod points!
crazy dynamite monkey
"I'm sorry Mario, but your paycheck is in another castle!" Toad
Life is not for the lazy.
Hmm, the only career I know of that directly involves jumping on goombah's and making things into lines is a mafia whore.
Is your boss a pimp?
Job Title: Enterprise Solution Architect
Job location: Lordaeron
Job Responsibilities:
Generate enterprise level solutions for maximizing vespene gas resource flow
Work with key stakeholders and provide leadership to increase frag count
This position requires the ability to translate business strategy, goals and objectives into complete pwnage.
This individual will support a team of technical, management and business development professionals in performing fatalities on the competition.
Responsible for the design of system architectures and marshalling the appropriate resources to successfully defend against a rush
Maintain a high level of technical excellence and depth in at least four core capability areas (such as FPS and RTS)
Required Skills:
6+ years meaningful experience in personal combat simulation
Attained Level 80 in EverCrack
3-4 years of Warcraft experience
Must be fluent in 133t 5|*34]{
Demonstrated acumen for the Internet and its transformative potential
Must have acquired the Orb of Zot and the Amulet of Yendor
Must have strong qualifications in leading game areas, especially RPG, RTS, FPS, Adventure, and Roguelike
Strong team leadership and coaching skills
Masters's degree in Gaming or equivalent
Please submit verification of any gaming tournament victories. Unverified screenshots will not be accepted.