How Playing Videogames Can Boost Your Career

Forbes.com

How Playing Videogames Can Boost Your Career

Game-play can teach you valuable leadership and strategy skills.


SAN FRANCISCO -- Elliot Noss, chief executive of domain name provider Tucows, has spent the past five years training to become a better leader. How? By playing "World of Warcraft" for six to seven hours a week.

"'You have these events [in "World of Warcraft"] that are very leadership-driven," Noss says. "For example, when you're in a raid that's poorly led, it's really easy to see how valuable are skills like managing the social dynamic, making sure there was the right level of preparation and making sure that there was a clear hierarchy in terms of who is performing what roles."

In "World of Warcraft," each action, even a small task like hunting an animal, has a purpose and fits into a broader framework. Similarly, Noss has set up frameworks at Tucows ( TCX - news - people ) that allow employees to understand how day-to-day tasks impact the company.

In Pictures: 10 Ways Videogames Can Boost Your Career

He does this, in part, by giving employees a broader narrative and context for their work. Noss does a regular lunchtime series called "Tucows Lore." Around 20 employees come to each session. Noss plays the company poet, telling tales of Tucows over the years--its heroes, villains, battles with large telecommunications companies or the early days of the domain registration market. "The feedback is fantastic. It helps people feel they are part of something bigger," Noss says.

Noss' efforts seem to be paying off. He says he has seen employee satisfaction rise and turnover decrease by a noticeable percentage.

To be sure, videogames have long been thought of as distractions to work and education, rather than aids. But there is a growing school of thought that says game-playing in moderation, and in your free time, can make you more successful in your career.

"We're finding that the younger people coming into the teams who have had experience playing online games are the highest-level performers because they are constantly motivated to seek out the next challenge and grab on to performance metrics," says John Hagel III, co-chairman of a tech-oriented strategy center for Deloitte. Hagel has been studying the effect that playing videogames has on the performance of young professionals in the workplace.

Hagel cites Stephen Gillett, a gamer who became chief information officer of Starbucks ( SBUX - news - people ) while still in his 20s. By playing "World of Warcraft" Gillet developed the ability to influence and persuade people through leadership rather than trying to order them around.

Serious Games Festival 2010

http://www.seriousgamesfestival.com/Serious_Games_Festival/Welcome.html

The Serious Games Initiative, with support from the Federation of American Scientists and other partners presents an event showcasing leading serious game projects and research to assist developers, sponsors, and partners operating in the serious games field.


This event kicks off Games Beyond Entertainment Week 2010 which offers a slew of events dedicated to exploring the edgier possibilities for videogames in today's global economy.

Check out Ribbon Hero from OfficeLabs

The Office Labs team has built a cool game to help learn the ribbon user interface in Word, Excel, and Powerpoint 2007, and the upcoming Office 2010.

Check it out here
http://www.officelabs.com/ribbonhero

http://www.officelabs.com/Lists/Posts/Post.aspx?ID=88

and on Facebook
http://apps.facebook.com/ribbonhero/


ZDNet
http://blogs.zdnet.com/BTL/?p=29685&tag=col1;post-3558

Windows 7 Language Quality Game

The Windows Language Quality Game enabled native language speakers to help assess and improve the linguistic quality of localized editions of Windows 7.

There is coverage on Spanish TV - link is here - about minute 13

and

• Computerworld (German) - here
• Pacific NW Software Quality Conference - here
• Jim Mockford on Twitter - here
• Microsoft Press Blog - here
• Techflash - here

Google Test Automation Conference - Video and Slides

GTAC 2009 - Zurich - 22 Oct 2009

Video is here

Slides are here

Paper is here

Score One for Quality

Google Test Automation Conference
Zurich - Oct 22nd 2009

http://www.gtac.biz/abstract-bios

Paper is here:

Abstract:
Research into the generation gap between current managers from the Baby Boomer era and the incoming group of Gen X, Gen Y, and Millennials shows that video games are a significant distinction to separate the two. Those generational differences indicate the need, as we seek to understand this research, for experimentation in how test teams find bugs. Bug Bash 2.0
We found a very powerful mechanism for communicating organizational priorities effectively and quickly. People engage quickly, and games can drive QA behaviors that help improve both product quality and employee morale. This creates a virtuous cycle where standard productivity metrics improve as engagement improves. The game discussed here introduces a new level of quality into the localization efforts by using “the crowd” – a diverse worldwide employee base in this case. We predict that “Games at Work” or “Productivity Games” carry a huge potential for influencing not just the software engineering workplace, but all industries and employee populations.

Portfolio selection and game theory in defect prevention

Microsoft Press : Ross Smith: Portfolio selection and game theory in defect prevention:

Guest post on Microsoft Press blog

"Portfolio selection and game theory in defect prevention"

link