An Coppens - Gamification and Gender Differences... The Feminine Viewpoint

In this episode of Gamification Talk Radio, An and Monica discuss the gamification industry, which like most technology fields, has been male dominated and often not very lady friendly. With Gamification in enterprise and learning however, we need to appeal to both genders.

Discussion topics include:

Is This the Right Problem to Solve?

Imagine if you did not speak until you were four years old and didn’t read until you were seven. What if your teachers described you as “mentally slow, unsociable and adrift forever in his foolish dreams.” Do you know that is true for one of the greatest thinkers of all time – Albert Einstein.

Albert Einstein said, “If I had an hour to solve a problem and my life depended on the solution, I would spend the first 55 minutes determining the proper question to ask, for once I know the proper question; I could solve the problem in less than five minutes.”

How often do you spend time and resources on problems which don't necessarily demand such attention? 

Too often our approach to problem solving is reactive; we wait for the problems to arise. The real starting point then for any problem solving process is to find the right problem to solve.

Ask yourself, "Is it the right problem to solve?" and "What opportunities are created by this problem?"

Society teaches us that to see what is good in life is to be naïve, whereas to be critical is perceived to be informed, grounded, sophisticated, and grownup. This is why when we are looking at a situation and thinking of possibilities, we often focus on what is wrong and what can go wrong, instead of possibilities.

The consequence is that our thinking is usually based on an unbalanced and, therefore, incorrect picture. In this video I am delivering my What Were You Thinking? keynote at the Las Colinas IAAP 25th Anniversary celebration dinner.

You'll see that you can learn how to change the way you think... FAST!



Fear constricts everything, especially thinking. Thinking stops when we are upset. But if we express feelings just enough, thinking re-starts. Laughter actually improves thinking.

And did you know that you become smarter after a good cry? 

Unfortunately, we have this backwards in our society. We think that when feelings start, thinking stops. And so when crying starts, for example, we try to stop the crying. When we do this, we interfere with exactly the process that helps a person to think clearly again.

So the next time a colleague or friend begins to show signs of feelings – relax and welcome them. Good thinking lies just around the corner.

More articles on thinking differently to achieve uncommon results:

• The Five Most Common Self-Limiting Beliefs
• Perception of Reality is Everything
• Ask the Wrong Question... Get the Wrong Answer

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, What Were You Thinking, and Your Face Isn't Finished Until Your Lipstick is On, writes The Gamification Report blog, and hosts the weekly Gamification Talk Radio program.

Baggage on the Trip of Life

Have you ever had to drag a load of luggage through an airport? As you’re running to catch your flight you think to yourself, “Why did I pack so much junk?” I just got back from a three week speaking and gamification design tour that included places with diverse climates -- Las Vegas, Boston, Johannesburg, and Cape Cod, and each trip to the airport had me calculating if maybe I had packed far too much and was carrying too much weight with me.

Yet, we may walk around every day carrying a couple suitcases full of shame, fear, insecurities, and a distorted view of who we really are. It may be words or thought patterns that have stayed with you your whole life. This kind of baggage weighs you down as you drag it around, day after day.

Its torture and you end up getting nowhere fast.

Take a play from my What Were You Thinking Playbook that I do in many of my workshops called The Baggage Sweep. This tool will help you to unpack and start travelling a little lighter.

Begin Your Change Imaginations...

While prepping content recently for a strategic planning retreat with a client, I stumbled upon the story that you’ll read below.

As tears filled my eyes and threatened to overflow, I was reminded of how our thought process and frame of reference determine what we believe to be true… whether it is true or not.

Many years ago, when I worked as a volunteer at a hospital, I got to know a little girl named Liz who was suffering from a rare and serious disease. Her only chance of recovery appeared to be a blood transfusion from her 5-year-old brother, who had miraculously survived the same disease and had developed the antibodies needed to combat the illness.

The doctor explained the situation to her older brother, and asked the little boy if he would be willing to give his blood to his sister. I saw him hesitate for only a moment before taking a deep breath and saying, “Yes… I’ll do it. If it will save her.”

Press Release: Monica Cornetti is Once Again Ranked as the #1 Gamification Guru

Monica Cornetti the Founder and CEO of Sententia, a global consortium of gamification gurus, is ranked this month as the #1 gamification guru in the world by UK-based Leaderboarded.

AUSTIN, Texas - Sept. 15, 2015 - PRLog -- Leaderboarded’s Gamification Gurus Power 100 ranks players according to their digital impact around the topic of gamification each month. The objective of the leaderboard is to promote greater discussion of gamification by highlighting those with greatest impact on the subject.

Cornetti explained, “Fundamentally, gamification is a technique to influence and engage people to solve problems, perform certain actions, and hopefully have a little more fun while on their way to achieving workplace objectives.”

Gamification of real-world activities represents a powerful technique which can drive motivation in individuals, differentiate an organization from other similar organizations, and help generate loyalty to the organization, its products, or its message.

This isn’t the first time Cornetti has been ranked as the #1 Gamification Guru in the world. Each month UK-based Leaderboarded produces a list of the Top 100 Gamification Gurus in the world using an algorithm that calculates Klout scores, website Alexa rank, and other factors to find the most credible voices in gamification.

When asked about the importance of the ranking as #1 Cornetti replied, “At Sententia, we take the idea of gamification very seriously. Gamification is a complex process that involves multiple stages. It is necessary to understand the objectives of the organization, evaluate challenges in achieving the objectives, and to be familiar with the motivations of employees to reach the objectives.”

She continued, “We publish daily blogs, a weekly gamification talk radio program, a GamificationScope periscope network, free videos, online courses… you name it! As we continue to evangelize the Talent Development field about the power of gamification, many organizations are realizing that by adopting playful, motivational design into their training programs, they are offering employees a much more engaging learning experience. And our case studies show that Gamification is effective for instructor-led, online training, or eLearning programs.”

Cornetti smiled and added, “I've said it before and I’ll say it again… making business processes compelling by making them fun is about the most fascinating and coolest thing I can think of!”

Sententia is a global consortium of gamification professionals. As a consortium, the Sententia members have a 5-prong approach to meet the business and performance objectives of its clients that includes: Gamification Design Strategy, Process Audits, Education and Certifications, Speakers Bureau, and Off-the-Shelf Training Programs. Sententia is the ONLY organization to offer three levels of Gamification Certification for Human Resource and Talent Development professionals that is recognized and approved by HRCI, SHRM, and ATD for recertification credits.

For more ideas on leveraging the power of gamification in your organization check out the list of online and LIVE regional gamification workshops and certifications at www.sententiagames.com.

About Sententia

Sententia is a global consortium of gamification professionals. As a consortium, the Sententia members have a 5-prong approach to meet the business and performance objectives of its clients that includes: Gamification Design Strategy, Process Audits, Education and Certifications, Speakers Bureau, and Off-the-Shelf Training Programs. We are the ONLY organization to offer three levels of Gamification Certification for Human Resource and Talent Development professionals that is recognized and approved by HRCI, SHRM, and ATD for recertification credits. Visit www.sententiagames.com for more information.

About Monica Cornetti

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 and has been featured on the cover of Bloomberg's BusinessWeek. Monica blogs at The Gamification Report and you can find her on twitter at @monicacornetti. She 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.

Media Contact:

Monica Cornetti, guru@sententiagames.com or 972-951-3314

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