Book Review — Game of Work by Charles A. Coonradt
Lately I have heard a lot of chatter about the book Game of Work and the idea of gamification of work. While this is not anything remotely new it is something that has caught my attention more and more as of late. The book and gamification ideas has been around in a broad context since the 1980's.
I am always amazed by the abstracts we employ as a human race to keep ourselves and others engaged or the typecasting we use in pursuit of engagement.
Gamification of work is the strategic attempt to enhance systems, services, organizations, and activities in order to create similar experiences to those experienced when playing games in order to motivate and engage.
While there are plenty of dissenting opinions regarding the Game of Work, I really believe the idea is right minded and and truly creates a healthy and less stale environment.
The five principles of the Motivation of Recreation are:
- Clearly defined goals
- Better scorekeeping and scorecards
- More frequent feedback
- A higher degree of personal choice of methods
- Consistent coaching
Who doesn’t want those bullet points described above? The tactics used to fulfill the bullet points is where things can get off track.
Notable Excerpts/Quotes:
Page 84 Coonradt tells the story of James Brown having an exchange with a young OJ Simpson. Young OJ was a goal setter.
Page 111 “The great coaches are those who constantly seek to minimize uncertainty, and that begins in the hiring process in which you establish the field of play”
