The Gamification of Learning Part 3: Rules, Rewards, and Results

This week on Gamification Talk Radio, we finish exploring the seven continents on our journey, and review Rules, Rewards, and Results.

Level 5:  Siberian Express – Why would they want to play?

As you create your gamification experience, think of creative features that will appeal to a variety of intrinsic and/or extrinsic motivators of your players. Define what core drivers of motivation will be most dominant in each phase of the experience. For example, in your onboarding phase you can get your players in quickly with some simple extrinsic motivators. The longer your players are in your game, you’ll want to design for different motivators such as: 

The Gamification of Learning Part 1: Objectives and Players

Using the metaphor of a World Explorer, Monica takes you inside her hands-on, gamified playshop to explore the beauty, awe, marvels, and dangers of the seven levels of successful gamification. You'll learn how to plan for your journey and pack wisely to make every item count.

This week to get started we explore two of the seven continents on our journey, and begin with business objectives and who is playing our game (our learners).

Using Gamification to Transform Your Team

What do you do if your favorite things in the world are playing board games, solving puzzles, working with teams, and traveling around the world? That’s the question Dr. Clue founder and San Francisco Bay Area native, Dave Blum, asked himself back in 1995. Coming from a varied career in ESL, tourism and non profits, Dave got to thinking: “Surely there’s something I can create that incorporates all my interests and hobbies?”

And so Dr. Clue Treasure Hunts was born. (www.drclue.com)

According to a recent Gallup poll, active employee disengagement is costing U.S. businesses an estimated $500 billion annually.

Luckily it does NOT have to be that way.  

What FUNK is in your TRUNK??

You go through your life following the patterns you’ve grown comfortable with. You do things because that’s the way they’re done. Your routine seems so natural that it doesn’t even occur to you that you’re following patterns at all.

You overlook opportunities or fail to see warning signs because you’ve kept your eyes not on the target, but on the routine… it happens to all of us.

Yet, have you found that change is inevitable… and growth is optional?

You may wonder why does this happen all the time why do I have so much resistance to change?

Well it’s because of the FUNK.

Gamification and Teams

We can take the game mechanics that game designers had been using for years to drive behaviors, such as competition, real-time feedback, and goal-setting, and apply them to talent development and talent management. These game mechanics work outside of gaming because they are based on satisfying fundamental human needs and desires.

Gaming has created an entirely different learning style, one that:

• aggressively ignores any hint of formal instruction
• includes lots of learning from peers but virtually none from authority figures
• leans heavily on trial and error (after all, failure doesn’t really cost you anything, you just push “play again”)
• is consumed in very small bits exactly when the learner wants, which is usually just before the skill is needed

Gamification invites people to participate and engage by integrating game mechanics and game dynamics into non-game contexts. My favorite space to use gamification is in the area of Talent Development to strengthen and advance your team.

By adding game mechanics to training, Gamification not only increases interest, it makes training FUN!

The goal is to increase learning and engagement through key concepts found in game design and behavioral psychology.

More Gamification Design Articles:

Gamification... It's More Than Hot Fudge

Gamification Design: Start with the Story

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.

Can You Beat Procrastination by Making it a Game?

How do you make yourself do the things you don’t want to do?

Can you imagine how much less guilt, stress, and frustration you would feel if you could somehow make yourself do the things you don’t want to do when you’re supposed to do them? 

I feel your pain. Often, when I am on a speaking tour or designing curriculum, it is easy for me to get so focused on that project, instead of doing other important tasks that will help me grow my business. I put the long-term activity on the back burner. 

The result? Empty calendar dates, a website that hasn’t been updated in months, unwritten blog articles, and a net zero new connections made.

That’s why I turned procrastination into a game – and it actually becomes not only challenging, but FUN to accomplish those things that would otherwise be put off. Now I look forward to focusing on and growing my business every day of the week. It's a simple form of gamification and goes like this…

The Weekly Alliteration Game:

You can’t do everything – so what can you do? The rules are easy. For each day of the week create an alliteration for an activity that relates to a major area of your business or career. Spend at least one hour in that area just for that day.

Anyone can do one hour… right?!

To help you get started, here are mine with a brief descriptor of what I could accomplish each day. Remember, I don’t have to do all of them, I just have to do some of them to equal at least one hour of activity for that day.

Marketing Monday:  Includes outreach such as writing and publishing a newsletter or blog article, social media connections, emails to participants who have connected with me via a speaking event, or complete a Speaker RFP for an upcoming event.

Technology Tuesday:  May include website updates, video editing and publishing, updates on “pay to list” sites that I use to promote my speaking, social media profile updates, verifying congruency in my brand across the Web.

Who do you Know Wednesday?:  Who do I need to meet that can either book me or connect me with a potential booking, such as a potential client, speakers bureau, local clubs and associations who book speakers, gamification platforms and gurus, or potential sponsors.

Thirsty Thursday: This is “close the deal” sales day. Thursday is all about direct contact with current prospects to get the deal closed. Remember the line from Glengarry Glen Ross, “Coffee is for closers.” Same idea here – only I reward myself with a Margarita when I close a deal on Thursday.

Follow-up Friday:  Time to tie up any loose ends. Emails hanging out there in your inbox waiting for my reply, promised proposals sent to potential clients, speaker agreements completed, radio program edited and ready to go for Saturday, and finalizing next week’s schedule.

Social Saturday:  Any work done on Saturday is wrapped around social encounters such as taking the computer to a great brunch spot downtown, networking with colleagues in a social setting, or strategy sessions while shopping the farmers market or hiking at Barton Creek Preserve.

Sunday Funday:  This is my day to relax, escape into a Netflix binge,  enjoy a 3-Bloody Mary brunch… whatever! Depending on the weather, time of year, where I may be in the world… I rejuvenate and get ready to start the week all over again.

Super simple and enormously effective! And the best thing is… no more dread and guilt. As long as I do a little bit each day, my business continues to move forward. Plus, that familiar, overwhelming feeling that “there is so much to do and so little time” is essentially eliminated.

So, how can you apply this? What alliteration activities can you create each day to help you complete your dull, dreary tasks, or to move your career forward?

Not to mention how much happier and more effective you will be! I would love to hear your ideas.

At its core, Gamification is about finding the fun in the things that we have to do. Making business processes compelling by making them fun is about the most fascinating and coolest thing that I can think of!

For more ideas on Gamification: 

• Gamification Simplified
• Gamification Design: A Starting Point

To Earn Your Level 1 Gamification Certification for Talent Development Professionals follow this link: http://bit.ly/SEN_L1CERT

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.

Thinking Differently is Easier Said than Done

How often do you think differently?

Thinking differently means approaching your daily challenges and habits in new, innovative ways. One of the best ways to think differently is to challenge assumptions.

Every time you approach a problem, the natural thing to do is the thing you've always done.

You approach the situation by bringing your accumulated knowledge and experience. The more experienced and skilled you are, the more likely you are to assume certain outcomes.

One of the most powerful ways to generate new ideas is to challenge assumptions.

Player and User Types for Gamification Design

In this episode of Gamification Talk Radio Andrzej and Monica explore the use of player and user types in gamification. The history of their use in gamification, the short comings of traditional types, and how to make use of the Gamification User Types Hexad - a user type classification model that Andrzej created

• What user types / player types are - a brief history
• Why they are important to gamification
• How to make use of them for your gamification strategy and application

About Andrzej Marczewski: A Gamification expert at Capgemini UK, keynote speaker and author of Gamification: A Simple Introduction. He has spent 14 years as developer and a lifetime as a gamer.  Andrzej is also the creator of the Gamification User Types Hexad, the first taxonomy and framework specifically designed to help gamifiers create solutions that put the user at the center of the experience. Connect with Andrzej at http://gamified.co.uk and on Twitter @daverage.

About Your Host:  A gamification keynote speaker and curriculum 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. Monica’s niche is gamification used in the corporate environment. Connect with Monica (@monicacornetti) www.monicacornetti.com

Gamified Doing vs. Gamified Learning

Special Guest Bart Vanderhaegen - Managing Director and Founder at Pactify - a gamified, web-based project tracker.

 

In this episode of Gamification Talk Radio, the question you’ll hear Bart ask you is, “Do you and your team really believe in your project?” By "Pactifying" it you can grow "Pact Value" together by executing actions and achieving milestones on time! Wouldn’t that be an AWESOME news to report upstream.

 

In this week's interview we explored the core philosophy of Pactify, which is to gamify the actual business process – not “gamified learning” but “gamified doing”.

 

And for the ever important ROI – Bart will share with us why gamification can help boost results in performance improvement programs. 

 

 

About Bart Vanderhaegen:   Bart Vanderhaegen is an Engineer in physics with an MBA. Bart spent most of career in management consulting with The Boston Consulting Group and mainly focused on managing large performance improvement programs.

 

He is known as a leader in the execution of large programs as well as a developer of new methodologies to support program management. Bart focuses on combining (i) rigorous program methodology, (ii) web based technology and (iii) gamification to enable more engaged execution. Connect with Bart at www.pactifysoftware.com

 

About Your Host:  A gamification keynote speaker and curriculum 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. Monica’s niche is non-technical gamification used in the corporate environment. Connect with Monica (@monicacornetti) www.monicacornetti.com

Gamification: Become a Player

To become a player, one must voluntarily accept the rules and constraints of the game. This acceptance of the game’s rules is part of what Bernard Suits calls the lusory attitude. (Lusory derives from the Latin word for game.)

The lusory attitude of the players is defined as the “State of affairs where in one adopts rules which require one to employ worse rather than better means for reaching an end.”

For example, in the game of golf:  The objective is to get the ball in the cup on each hole with the least amount of swings of the club. Whoever has the least amounts of swings wins the round. Putting it in the hole with your hand would be best way to do that. You would not choose to take a stick with a piece of metal on one end of it, walk 300 or 400 yards away from the hole, and then attempt to drive the ball into the hole with the stick.

Are Gamers Your Ideal Employees?

My adventure into the world of Gamification formally began in the summer of 2012 when I received a call from a client asking me to develop a Gamification Workshop to teach problem solving skills for managers. I was honored to be asked and thanked her for thinking of me.

I assured her that I was the ideal person to hire for this design and delivery … after all, since 2003 I had earned the reputation of using games to interact and motivate participants in all my leadership, strategic thinking and communication workshops.

However, as I asked her about her objectives and outcomes ... I was quickly Googling the word “gamification.”

Truth was, at the time, I didn’t have a clue what gamification was. I had heard the term bantered around … but as of yet it wasn’t anything I had turned my focus to. A lot has happened since then.

Fortunately the first article I stumbled upon was by Adam Carstens and John Beck called “Get Ready for the Gamer Generation.” (TechTrends, 2005)

What I read started to change my entire way of thinking about the Gamer Generation and games in the workplace.

I then sat fascinated while watching a TED talk given by Californian game designer, Jane McGonigal. She says that by the time they turn 21, a dedicated gamer will spend 10,000 hours playing video games – exactly the same amount of time they will have spent in formal education.

According to McGonigal, four miraculous things happen to gamers while playing during those 10,000 hours.

• First, they become urgently optimistic, overwhelmed by a desire to win
• Second, they bond closely, as those who play together are more inclined to like and trust each other
• Third, it makes them happy over-achievers, sitting at their screens for hours in a state of focused bliss
• And finally it furnishes them with some sort of epic purpose – a larger-than-life reason for being

What interests me about these four stats is that they are precisely the things that make up a model employee – an optimistic, idealistic team worker who is blissfully happy to create, innovate, and work away all day and all night.

Indeed, if only some way could be found to make the working world a bit more like World of Warcraft, then not only would offices vanish, so would all problems of morale, lack of engagement and slackers.

But before I got too carried away with this high-tech nirvana, a couple of other things occurred to me. From observing the excessive gaming that went on in our recreation room, as my now 20-something sons grew up playing endless hours of games with their friends, I also remembered that video games make people lazy, grumpy, and addicted to instant gratification.

They also make you terribly inefficient: You feel productive … while achieving nothing. They make you think you can do things you can’t, like be a global ruler or score goals like Tom Brady when you're actually not in shape enough to even run round the block.

But then … don’t we see those same traits from some of the Boomers in our working world -- inefficiency, laziness and overconfidence?

Maybe the new version of the workplace run by the Gamer Generation won’t be all that different after all. It will be good and bad. Just as it is now.

Forward thinking organizations everywhere are beginning to understand the power of gamification to increase engagement as well as the bottom line and are quickly learning how to leverage its power. Let’s enter the world of Gamification together.

Game On!

More Gamification Articles:

• The 4 Questions to Ask Before Implementing Gamification
• Gamification Simplified
• Why You'll LOVE Low-Tech Gamification for Corporate Training

For more ideas on the power of gamification to increase engagement, get started with the Gamification Design and Implementation Program.

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.

Are Leaders Born or Made?

Like me you’ve probably worked for the boss from hell, a bully manager who insults direct reports, belittles their efforts, and blames them for things over which they have no control.

The boss from hell will suck the life and soul out of your people and your organization, stealing dignity and purpose, and replacing those ideals with intimidation and fear.

A recent poll of 800 managers and employees in 17 industries, revealed that after being bullied by a boss, even employees who do NOT consider themselves disengaged, develop or exhibit behaviors that greatly impact their organizations bottom line:    

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.

"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.

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

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.”

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.

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?

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.

Top Gamification Stats & Facts You Need To Know for 2015

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