Gamification – A game changer in the new norm!

As the world starts slowly, to emerge from the COVID 19 pandemic, never before has the need for sustained behaviour change and engagement to amplify individual performance and organization outcomes been as critical as it is today.  Social distancing, work from home, lesser in person contact, increased reliance on technology etc. will become the standard norm in our daily lives, professionally or personally.

This is a natural generational transition that was already happening, albeit slowly. The COVID 19 pandemic has just shrunk the timelines and brought it into the immediate timescales. Moreover, this is happening to a world that is still not completely prepared to handle the new norm, emotionally, socially and from an infrastructural perspective. We have to make significant changes to every aspect of our lives to accept and deal with the new norm. This includes the very social fabric of how we live, interact and engage with each other. We are faced with a sudden and major cultural change and faced with a change, the natural response of the human brain is a threat response arising from the limbic brain, resistance to change. For the larger population, acceptance of change is an acquired skill that becomes that much more difficult when the limbic brain is active.

As organizations emerge out of the COVID-19 crisis into new ways of working and a very  challenged economic environment, they will be required to rapidly refresh their business processes, reskill their workforce, and achieve more output from their employees. This will require new learning, increased engagement, and a renewed sense of accountability.

This is where gamification comes in as a game-changer. For a fatigued, disengaged conscious brain that is in a 

state of resistance, using the neuro-science of play, it takes the sub-conscious brain into a state of play, builds engagement at a core belief level and brings about transformation in conscious behaviours and subsequently business outcomes.

Having successfully combined gamification principles with other behavioral sciences principles such as appreciative inquiry and value creation process, we have seen sustained, positive impact to the core human processes that are critical to success.  Specifically, we have seen tangible positive outcomes in the following areas:

• Amplification of organizational andindividual outcomes
• Amplification of organizational processes
• Sustained engagement and amplification of learning outcomes
• Nation building and sustained behavioral transformation at a social level

Over the next few blogs, through case studies and concept notes on how gamification, when implemented correctly, can become a powerful behavioral transformational tool for organizations, institutions and society in general.