How to Turn Life into More of a Game

 https://vimeo.com/106014257

When I lived in Brooklyn, everyday I’d have a 15-minute walk to the subway. It wasn’t the most scenic walk, if you know what I mean—garbage and litter everywhere; graffiti on every surface (and not even inspiring graffiti!)—and quite frankly, I pretty much dreaded it. There were never any cabs around (this was Brooklyn, after all), so really, walking was my only option. At some point on one of those daily trudges, I started to play a game in my mind—as a distraction and to help time pass. And that’s when my world changed…at least for those 15 minutes.  

I didn’t realize it at the time, but I was doing a form of gamification! And if there’s some unavoidable activity or event in your daily grind that could benefit from being converted into a game, you are going to love this week’s chat with my friend, Gabe Zichermann. 

Gamification is a concept that transposes the best aspects of game-playing (think: straight-up rules, a winning objective, incentive and reward) onto a task in order to incentivize behavior—and ultimately, make that task more fun to do. And Gabe is co-founder and CEO of Dopamine, Inc., a firm that specializes in advising businesses on their best use of gamification. He is considered one of its “founders,” having written several books on the topic, including Game-Based Marketing.

 Gamification is being adopted in practically any and all industries from tech, to banking, to healthcare, to education and it's being utilized across departments from HR to Marketing. It's for anyone who is interested in incentivizing behavior. 

As someone more than a little interested in always being and doing your best, you are in for a real treat. So, get ready, check out the video…and prepare to be blown away!

Afterward, let me know what you think. Have you had an opportunity to experience gamification yet? Has your company utilized its techniques? Will you bring the topic to the next ideas meeting in the office?! I would love to hear about your experiences and get your feedback. I do love getting those comments!

 Best,

Stella