Games and Work--A New Look at Professional Development and Learning

A recent book, Total Engagement, by Byron Reeves and J. Leighton Read, talks about the use of games, especially alternate reality games, to improve workplace performance.

Many of these alternate reality games are team-based, require skill development and critical thinking that transfer easily to the workplace.  The feedback and reward mechanisms built into the games help improve self-esteem and sense of both accomplishment and self-worth.

In most learning situations, learning takes place when the learner is actively engaged in positive learning activity.  That is what is taking place in most of these alternate reality games--sometimes in a "virtual" environment.

In this more "austere" "new economy" where training dollars are even harder to come by, it is important for businesses to look at  play and learning and work with new  lenses.  The professional development required to help their employees do jobs better and transition to new jobs may be more easily and effectively accomplished by introducing the right game at the right moment.