Meta Leadership Primer: Gamification

In every area of our lives, we continue to search for greater accomplishments; this is very challenging and isn’t fun at all. Everybody wants to learn and at the same time have fun, but we have to make some tradeoffs if we’re going to achieve what we want, according to most “career advisers”. With gamification introduced into various aspects of our lives today, it has become a lot easier and more fun to strive for these accomplishments by amalgamating the two conflicting natures of man and working them through to achieve more excellent results.

Gamification, in the simplest of terms, is the integration of game mechanics into an already existing process to improve the participation, engagement, and loyalty of the people involved.

How Gamification Works

The way gamification works in every area of life is not rocket science; it is a simple application of gaming mechanics to life processes through the understanding of human psychology. This process leverages human motivations and desire to be a part of a community, to achieve something tangible, compete with others, earn rewards for outstanding participation, give feedback, solve problems, develop new skills, and deliver great things by strategically applying key elements of game engagement like designs, activity structure, and visible achievements.

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Importance of Gamification in Business Success

Due to the highly competitive markets in today’s business world, businesses have devised various means to get ahead in the competition, and the adoption of gamification has set many companies on the path to business success. Businesses have been employing this process in two significant areas: their operations and organizational structure and their marketing strategies.

Gamification is far from what most people may take it to be; in businesses, it is aimed at expanding the implementation of an already existing model and not the building of something entirely new. In this case, business models have been transformed over the years through this process as some businesses are employing it while solving problems and managing resources.

For instance, many business use gamification to solve Human Resource related issues like recruiting and promotion. When an establishment sets a way of pushing their employees forward by openly showing the achievements of each employee, they find it easier to practice transparent management system and at the same time motivate their employees to compete for rewards like promotions, bonuses, and many others. Most times, this is done by presenting an open leaderboard showing the accomplishment of every employee in the organization which is updated regularly.

Within businesses, it has made it easier for HR departments to determine basically which staff to layoff and which to promote. Seeing yourself openly on the leaderboard performing poorly in the company should send a clear message, and when the management invites you to the “Principals’ office”, you should know what to expect.

In the area of marketing, gamification is also playing a very significant role in keeping business afloat by improving relationships between customers and brand, crafting long term engagements, and increasing customer loyalty to a brand. In a case that I perceive as nothing short of MASTERFUL, Snapchat implemented a strategy for consistent user engagement labeled “SnapStreaks”, basically it encourages users to keep a communication going with another for an extended period of time. For example, my daughter once bragged about her snapstreak of 182 days! Yes, you read that correctly my 17-year-old boasted about using a platform everyday for 182 straight days without interruption. How many brands, businesses or services would kill for that kind of consistency from their users?

A few companies have displayed the effectiveness of this process on their business in previous times. Another example is Quirky using gamification to crowdsource product development ideas from investors; Nike also invented Nike+ to engage fitness enthusiasts and thereby improving their brand reputation. Khan Academy is not left out as they used this process to enhance the learning experience in students.

This process has made it easier for organizations to tackle the challenges of this generation’s continually changing world. It is a process that should be appreciated and implemented in every area of business and life generally to enhance seamless learning and endless accomplishments, wherever leadership intellect permits.