Thursday, July 30, 2015

The World Explorer - Essential Leadership Skills in a Diverse Workforce

The World Explorer is a comprehensive blended leadership training that is based on next-generation gamification tactics using rich game narratives, simple game mechanics, understanding of unique personalities and motivators, competition, collaboration, creative thinking, and more…




Humans like to play, and when there is play involved, we become skillful learners.

The World Explorer uses a graphical story that captivates your interest and imagination. Two young explorers, Louis and Lindsey, are your guides on this adventure. As millennials, they are digital natives and feel quite comfortable with the use of apps, wearables, and websites to access information when and where they need it – and they’ll show you how to excel in this NEW digital era.

Learn how to plan for your journey and pack wisely to make every item count. This proven trademarked program ties into corporate objectives and performance goals and encourages on-the-job mastery, improved communications, and lasting organizational change.

Receive hands-on practice in building and leading teams and learn how to:

  • Create a collaborative work environment for faster, better results – while maintaining healthy working relationships
  • Formulate strategies for attracting, retaining and developing top-tier talent
  • Increase engagement and retention by matching your company’s goals with the goals of the employees
  • Understand the person your trying to lead – and persuade more effectively by speaking to their motivators
  • Motivate your team – even the “difficult” ones

For more ideas on gamified corporate trainings please visit us at www.SententiaGames.com

About the Author:  Monica Cornetti
Founder and CEO, Sententia
www.SententiaGames.com
www.monicacornetti.com

A gamification speaker and designer, Monica Cornetti is rated as a #1 Gamification Guru in the World by UK-Based Leaderboarded. She is the author of the book Totally Awesome Training Activity Guide: Put Gamification to Work for You, writes The Gamification Report blog, and hosts the weekly Gamification Talk Radio program.

Monday, July 27, 2015

"But you didn't ask me if I like oatmeal... "

Have you ever thought about how you make decisions? Do you end up in “trouble” because your choices left the people around you asking, “What were you thinking?”

The truth is, you probably weren’t thinking – you were just acting on an instinct or used some kind of mental shortcut to reach your decision.

Chances are you weren’t asking the right questions to get the right answer.

Let me illustrate with a story about my son Nick, his grandfather, and the conversation I overheard one morning while Pap-Pap was making breakfast for Nick. Pap-Pap prepared a big bowl of oatmeal, his own favorite breakfast.

"Do you like sugar?" Pap-Pap asked Nick. Nick nodded yes.

"How about some butter, too?" Again Nick nodded yes.

"Of course, you like milk?" "Sure," Nick replied.

But when Pap-Pap placed the steaming bowl of oatmeal with butter, sugar and milk before him, Nick refused to eat it.

Sunday, July 26, 2015

Thiagi - Games and Gamification Part 2

Should games be fun or should they be serious?
Should games be cooperative or should they be competitive?

Part 2 of the Sententia interview with Dr. Thiagi - We begin with a review of the 4 C's of Games and how they can be applied in gamification design strategy, explore the importance of storylines and narratives for comprehension and retention, and conclude with FUN!!



About Thiagi:  Dr. Sivasailam (Thiagi) Thiagarajan was born in Chennai, India and has lived most of his life in Bloomington, Indiana. An expert in the area of game design, Thiagi has designed more than 400 training games and simulation and has written 40 books on the subject. He has conducted workshops on interactive training in 25 different countries around the world. Connect with Thiage - www.thiagi.com, @thiagi

About Your Host: A gamification speaker and designer, Monica Cornetti is rated as a Top 4 Gamification Guru in the world by UK-based Leaderboarded. Monica’s niche is gamification techniques that can be used within the corporate talent development environment. Connect with Monica @monicacornetti. www.monicacornetti.com and www.sententiagames.com

Saturday, July 25, 2015

Making Work More Fun... Myth or Reality?

 
At work, our brows stay furrowed all day long, focused on efficiency and productivity. We often lament the loss of playfulness, laughter, and good old fun. But… who said that work and fun have to be mutually exclusive?

I prefer the wisdom of Mary Poppins:  “In every job that must be done, there is an element of fun. You find the fun and ‘snap’, the job’s a game.” Mary Poppins (1964)

Play is not the opposite of work – we can find fun in the things we do every day.

When I do my daily treadmill run (I don’t really like running, but I do it), I make it fun with a stadium-size fantasy of fitness, fame, and fortune. Instead of J.Lo, Beyonce, or Shakira on stage wowing the crowd, it’s me… with my awesome voice, incredibly toned physique, and extraordinary dance moves. Sometimes I’m enjoying it so much I start to sing along, out load, (much to the chagrin of my fellow treadmill runners).

Or when I’m working on a project and about to abandon it because either I’m not getting anywhere or just plain bored – I start playing the game of “Just 5 More…” I say to myself: “I will stick with it for ‘just 5 more minutes’ and then I will give up or take a break.”

Friday, July 24, 2015

Learning in Action!


Imagine your workshops alive with interaction! As a trainer or facilitator, it is up to you to create this environment in your training room or eLearning course.

The key to remember is that lecturing alone will never lead to real learning. Real learning requires the participant’s to use their own thinking process to evaluate what you are presenting.

Remember the saying, "A picture is worth a 1,000 words?" What are you doing to bring visuals into your training program to liven up the learning? Now here’s my challenge to you, don’t rely only on PowerPoint or static images on the screen to provide that visual.


Think about how you can put presentation tools in your participants’ hands to help them see and feel as well as hear what you are saying. Apply a little bit more creative effort to create visuals or graphics to paint the picture in their minds so they can have a better grasp of the information you are presenting.

So what exactly are these tools?

Wednesday, July 22, 2015

What if You Allowed Yourself to Think Big ... to Think Really BIG?



“If you’re going to be thinking anyway… you might as well think big!” - Donald Trump

Have you ever wondered what results you could get if you allowed yourself to think big … to think really BIG?

Have you ever thought what your life will be like in 10 years? Do you have ideas about your relationships, career, business, health, finances, and spirituality?

We could probably take five days and fill up 50 flip charts with ideas of what you could do in your future.

A better use of your time would be to ask yourself, “Of all the things I can really work on, what are the three or four things that are really going to make a difference?” Instead of generating a lot of good ideas, you have to focus.

But how do you do that? You have to identify things that you can, want, or need to do. They have to be things you can get excited about, big things. Identify things that scare you, but are also aligned with who you are and who you want to be.

Are you ready to think BIG thoughts?

Click here to get your FREE eBook to learn Monica’s proven game plan to Think BIG! http://bit.ly/ThinkBigeBook

About the Author:  Monica CornettiFounder and CEO, Sententiawww.SententiaGames.com
www.monicacornetti.com

A gamification speaker and designer, Monica Cornetti is rated as the #1 Gamification Guru in the World by UK-Based Leaderboarded. She is the author of the book Totally Awesome Training Activity Guide: Put Gamification to Work for You, writes The Gamification Report blog, and hosts the weekly Gamification Talk Radio program.

She is a professional consultant and known for being one of the leading players in thinking differently to create uncommon results. In fact, as an early adopter, she has been designing and delivering gamification programs for her clients since 2008.

Monday, July 20, 2015

The DOs and DON’Ts of Gamification Design Thinking, Part 3

The World Explorer is for you if you are interested in designing a gamification strategy for either employee or customer engagement… BUT you’re not sure where to begin.

In Part 1 of this adventure we learned a number of DO's and DON'Ts as Louis and Lindsey took us on an adventure to discover:
Why are we playing?
Who are your players?  
How are you keeping score?

In Part 2 we explored:
How is the game played?
Why would they want to play?
What keeps them in the game?

Now it’s time for Level 7: Exotic Expedition – What’s it like to play?

Saturday, July 18, 2015

Thiagi - Games and Gamification, Part 1

Most people are confused about different terms associated with games and gamification. If you are one of them, you are likely to confuse your clients, participants, and audience members. Untangle the terminology so you can clearly communicate what you do and what you can do for others.

This week Thiagi and Monica discuss how to:
  • Avoid confusion and misunderstanding when talking about games and gamification to your clients and participants
  • Confidently differentiate between games and gamification and among different types of games and different types of gamification.
  • Specify different elements of games and different elements of gamification, and select the most appropriate elements to achieve a specific goal.
  • Clearly compare and contrast game design and gamification design, and identify the important similarities and differences between these two strategies.



About Thiagi:  Dr. Sivasailam (Thiagi) Thiagarajan was born in Chennai, India and has lived most of his life in Bloomington, Indiana. An expert in the area of game design, Thiagi has designed more than 400 training games and simulation and has written 40 books on the subject. He has conducted workshops on interactive training in 25 different countries around the world. Connect with Thiage - www.thiagi.com, @thiagi

About Your Host: A gamification speaker and designer, Monica Cornetti is rated as a Top 4 Gamification Guru in the world by UK-based Leaderboarded. Monica’s niche is gamification techniques that can be used within the corporate talent development environment. Connect with Monica @monicacornetti. www.monicacornetti.com and www.sententiagames.com

Saturday, July 11, 2015

Storytelling.... Do We Really Want This Much Emotion in the Workplace?

We are wired to think in stories. A story is a connection of cause and effect. We think in narratives all day long, no matter if it is about buying a new laptop, thinking of the rapidly approaching project deadline, or dinner with our kids, we make up stories in our heads for every action and conversation.

The gamification of learning is more than just building games into learning. It is a systematic process of using strategies that are based on the principles of good game design. A well-designed and well-implemented training and development program promotes engagement, meaning, mastery, and autonomy.

Training should not be just about delivering facts. Studies show that learners comprehend and retain more through stories. Storytelling in training allows us to connect to the learner on an emotional level.

And that is what this program is about -Let’s play!




You don’t have to start with a blank page. Use one of the story writing models in the The Gamification Starter Kit - Level 2 is a FREE Sample Lesson, a public domain story, or try Rory’s Story Cubes for a whole new twist on story writing.
 
About the Author:  Monica Cornetti
Founder and CEO, Sententia

www.SententiaGames.com

Monica Cornetti is a former Corporate Executive and an influential speaker, writer, and gamification expert in the Talent Development industry. She is also a consultant, rated as the #1 Gamification Guru in the World by UK-Based Leaderboarded, and has been featured on the cover of Bloomberg's BusinessWeek.

She is the author of the book Totally Awesome Training Activity Guide: Put Gamification to Work for You, blogs at The Gamification Report, and hosts the weekly Gamification Talk Radio program. You can find her on twitter at @monicacornetti.

Monica wants you and your team to have everything in the world to smile about - unabashed, confident, and tenacious. Spend just a few minutes with Monica, and see that she has the passion, dedication, commitment and knowledge to make that happen.