Brains on the Beach - Gamified Co-Creation

“What would happen if we got a dozen or more experienced, talented and turned on OD Professionals together for a weekend to create all new approaches for a real client’s real business issue?”

 

The Answer = Brains on the Beach

In this episode learn more about Brains on the Beach from one of the original founders, James Bishop. Hear about their unique vision, how it works, what gamification adds to the process, and how you can become a Brains on the Beach Consultant!

Brains on the Beach brings together the best coaches, trainers, facilitators, business experts to develop workplace solutions for corporate and NGO clients.

To encourage co-creation between individuals, the experience is gamified. The GamesMaster finds the client for the Brains to focus their energy on a challenge posed to them and sets the rules of engagement.

Two Rules of Failure

Things are changing faster and faster every day, and there’s no slowing in sight. The bottom line for any company is… you can either lead the change or be collateral damage as the change rolls over you.

An individual or company capable of responding effectively to rapidly changing market conditions will operate in an environment where mistakes and even failures happen. You can’t expect yourself or other people to be great without making mistakes. In fact, failure should be expected.

Have you heard it said, “If you’re not failing… you’re not trying hard enough!”

The key to success in the face of change is to identify failure as quickly as possible. Fast failure is acceptable; slow failure is not. Failing quickly means finding a successful alternative quickly, before the failure causes too much damage. In most cases you can find another approach, another process, another solution that will work.

This requires two standard rules of practice.

What Can I Fail At This Week?

Typically when faced with an uncertainty, we don’t carefully evaluate the information or look for facts and statistics. Instead, in making decisions we use biases and shortcuts that are hardwired into our thinking process. These shortcuts can be dangerous because they create blind spots … so we fail to recognize them as we fall into a trap of faulty thinking.

Daniel Kahneman in his book, Thinking, Fast and Slow gives a great example, a simple arithmetic question: A bat and ball cost a dollar and ten cents. The bat costs a dollar more than the ball. How much does the ball cost?

If you are like most people you respond quickly and confidently, and tell me that the ball costs ten cents.

Well that answer is both obvious and wrong.

There’s Gotta Be a Better Way…

"There’s gotta be a better way!"

How often have you used that phrase at work ... or when doing some kind of household chore?

There's gotta be a better way is the phrase at the heart of most innovation. Innovation creates value for you as a customer through solutions that meet a new need or an old need in new ways.

Recently while on the road for a speaking tour, I stayed with my mom and dad for a few days between gigs. The night before I was to leave, I decided to launder a few items and so asked my mom if she had anything to add to my small loads. She said to me, “Oh, you can just throw all your clothes in together.” I looked at her as if she had lost her senses.