Teach Your Employees to Think Like Online Gamers

The Find: Online gamers share in common five beneficial traits that are as useful in business as they are in gaming.

The Source: The Harvard Business Review's Conversation Starter The Take-away: Managers should encourage their employees to adopt the mentality of online gamers, who share these traits:

1. They're bottom-line oriented--Gamers like to be evaluated, even compared with one another, through systems of points, rankings, titles, and external measures.
2. They understand the power of diversity--one person can't do it all; each player is by definition incomplete.
3. They thrive on change--nothing is constant in a game.
4. They see learning as fun--the fun of the game lies in learning how to overcome obstacles.
5. They marinate on the "edge"--Gamers often explore radical alternatives and innovative strategies, even when common solutions are known.