The document discusses how gaming can be used to create positive work environments based on the principles of positive psychology. It suggests that games fulfill criteria like belonging, meaning, and accomplishment and notes how a PhD could be viewed as a game. The document advocates applying principles of culture, technology, and gamification to create game-like work environments in business, research, and marketing where people feel like heroes in their own story and are part of something bigger.
8. GAMES FULFIL THE
FOUR MAIN
CRITERIA OF
POSITIVE
PSYCHOLOGY*
Dr Jane McGonigal
‘reality is broken’
9. *POSITIVE
PSYCHOLOGY
RATHER THAN FOCUSING ON WHAT’S WRONG WITH PEOPLE,
FOCUS ON WHAT’S RIGHT AND BUILD ON THEM
10. TO CONNECT WITH OTHERS
BELONGING EPIC
IN A COLLABORATIVE
EXPERIENCE
TO BE PART OF SOMETHING
BIGGER THAN OURSELVES
TO WORK AT TASKS WE
BELIEVE IN
MEANING
TO FEEL WE ARE TRULY
GOOD AT SOMETHING
BLISSFUL
PRODUCTIVITY URGENT
OPTIMISM
41. TO CONNECT WITH OTHERS
IN A COLLABORATIVE
EXPERIENCE
TO BE PART OF SOMETHING
BIGGER THAN OURSELVES
TO WORK AT TASKS WE
BELIEVE IN
TO FEEL WE ARE TRULY
GOOD AT SOMETHING
Remember thinking to myself, “What is the relevance of gaming”
Then I remembered…
by the age of 21 kids have 10,000 hours or more of game play under their belt
But big money brings big scrutiny: Scare stories, schemes to ban minesweeper from computers
Pschyological surveys commissioned, expected to see scary changes in brain chemistry and even personality… but
PEOPLE WHO PLAY GAMES ARE MORE CREATIVE, MORE COLLABORATIVE, MORE HOPEFUL AND MORE ‘POWERFUL’ THAN THE AVERAGE
Jane helped us to understand the fundamental psychological needs that are met through gaming
Could a work environment ever be a game that everyone could ‘win’ in the same terms?
The question or, epic quest that occurred to us having worked with Jane McGonigal
What could or would be the outcomes for the business - if people felt hopeful, connected, powerful, effective and part of something bigger
Firstly, our culture: What happens when you take an existing culture and you need to apply a piece of technology to it?
SO, HOW DO YOU SCALE SOMETHING SO DELIVATE AND PROFOUNDLY EMBEDDED IN PEOPLE WITHOUT DAMAGING IT…Getting that kind of thing wrong is how people get fired.
There are many examples of things which were already successful being changed or grown too quickly and it all feeling a bit weird.
The key to amplifying the positives of our existing culture has been our planning system, Source
Any of you in this room who work – or have worked at an agency – could easily imagine a scenario where a new planning system could easily be fired down from the mothership as we all stare into the light in the sky powerless to its progress.
Mark Holden needed to ensure it was a reflection of what existed not something which was zapped down from the mothership.
Essentially, what Source is, is a piece of technology which has distilled PHD’s culture and bottled it in a system which sits at the core of our business offering. It’s more than a planning system, it’s cultural engine. Something tangible that brings a culture to life.
So now the important bit. There’s nothing worse than sitting at a conference listening to people wanging on about theories with no proof of practical application
So, I’ve got 4 things that adopting a gamified approach has delivered us and the people who work here.
SOMETIMES THIS CRAZY WORLD CAN MAKE YOU FEEL YOU HAVE TO LOOK OR BEHAVE IN A CERTAIN WAY TO SUCCEED
BECAUSE SOURCE IS ABOUT OUTPUTS, DOING STUFF, COLLABORATING, YOU DON’T NEED TO LOOK A CERTAIN WAY TO SUCCEED, YOU CAN’T WIN BY GOAL HANGING, YOU HAVE TO COMPETE, YOU DON’T PR YOURSELF, YOUR WORK DOES THAT, YOUR BOSSES NOTICE YOUR WORK NOT YOUR SPIN
SOURCE PLAYS TO YOUR STRENGTHS
SOURCE TAKES ALL THE UNFAIRNESS AWAY
Source measures your contribution against the agency’s values, creating a profile of your dominances against the agency’s values.
Innovator is an indication of creativity and fresh thinking
Stone Turner is a reward for Curiosity – providing insights
Collaboration – is kinda self explanatory but reward volume of participation
Courage – rewards challenges and builds to briefs
Yoga Master – is a measure of openness to input from others who may improve your end result. So, even applying other people’s input gets rewarded in Source.
HERE’S AN EXAMPLE OF HOW SOURCE DELIVERS AT A SPECIFIC AND TANGIBLE LEVEL
Everyone has a different way of working towards their goals and different ways of thinking.
BECAUSE SOURCE IS AVAILABLE ACROSS ALL DEVICES, PHDers EVERY CONCEIVABLE WAY OF WORKING IS ACCOUNTED FOR, BIG GROUPS SMALL GROUPS, ALONE OR WITH FRIENDS, ON THE TRAIN ETC
Because we all know that your best ideas don’t always happen in the office.
The positive psychology approach has created a resilience, fight and momentum to get things done to a high level of quality day in day out. You may have seen the entire ad break made of LEGO that we did in February. An idea that involved 4 advertisers, 4 ad agencies, A major film studio, And one of the most carefully managed brands in the world
May have put people off but the this project was approached with gusto when others would have put it in the too hard basket.
In business, I don’t like certain PortmanTeau words that smash two together to create a new one. There are a couple outwith work life that I don’t mind. Like…
So bad it’s good
Competitive Collaboration
Jane McGonigal says that competition can often be unhealthy to games. It needs to give you a positive feeling and create positive friction
Here’s an example
This is Pavel Galik. He works at PHD in the Czech Republic.
In September 2013 he was No.100 on the SOURCE Leaderboard.
When he got and email from this guy…
Hakan Lofgren, the planner responsible for the roll-out of SOURCE in PHD Sweden
It said…
Take that Sweden
HAS MADE US THE SAME BUT BETTER, IT’S CHANGED MY POINT OF VIEW OF WHAT’S POSSIBLE IN A BUSINESS, IT’S CHANGED MY POINT OF VIEW ON HOW TECHNOLOGY COULD AND SHOULD BE USED IN A BUSINESS AND IT’S CHANGED THE WAY WE RELATE TO ONE ANOTHER
WE’RE TRYING TO CREATE A FAIRER WORK PLACE, POPULATED BY RESILIANT FLEXIBLE, HOPEFUL EMPLOYEES THAT BELIEVE THEY CAN TAKE ON NEARLY ANY CHALLENGE… AND IN THIS WORLD OF CHANGE THAT’S WHAT WE ALL NEED MORE OF…
