| | By Mick James
My first piece of
equipment was an ancient
manual typewriter, and
there was precious
little fun in that,
apart from wondering how
many more little screws
and nuts could fall off
before it stopped
working altogether (it
never did). Then, one
day we were all given
shiny new PCs, and the
effects on office
productivity were
immediate. Particularly
on the chap in the
corner who seemed to
have gone into overdrive
– eyes focused on the
screen, his hands a blur
of motion, legs and
shoulders twitching. It
was only when you went
round behind him that
you discovered what was
really happening: he was
playing a game, dodging
space invaders or
piloting a Formula One
car round a race track.
When the history of
Western civilisation
comes to be written, I
suspect the decision to
issue pretty much every
white-collar worker with
a multimedia
entertainment centre as
their main working
device will be viewed as
some sort of turning
point.
Games. When they are
not chasing down the
porn or the pirate MP3s, | |
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| | or shooing people off
Facebook, deeply skilled
IT managers are spending
their time trying to
stop people from playing
games. The days when our
secretary could claim –
as she did – that she
was playing Solitaire to
become more proficient
with the mouse are long
gone. Games have no
place in the workplace.
And yet...
I doubt I'll ever get
back the afternoon when
an eight-year old
explained to me – in
exquisite detail – the
rankings and powers of
the various monsters in
Pokemon. But I remember
thinking at the time,
that child has
accumulated a mass of
complex, structured
information at least as
complex as learning the
basis of Latin grammar.
The connection of games
with childhood is no
coincidence, for these
are powerful learning
tools – the problem is
we've stopped learning
anything useful.
So I was intrigued to
hear of a new initiative
to try and unlock the
power of games in a
business context coming
from a consulting firm.
The Consulting
Consortium is a textbook
example of a niche
consultancy, offering
advice on how to combine | |
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| | regulatory compliance
with a commercial edge
to clients in financial
services and other
industries. The problem
is that with new
regulatory initiatives
such as the FSA's
"Treating Customers
Fairly" coming in, even
the reach of the largest
consultancy is
inadequate for the
numbers of people who
need to change the way
they work – and fast.
"The FSA has changed
its model," says the
Consulting Consortium's
managing director,
Joanne Smith.
"Previously only the top
5% of firms were
visited, but now there
will be 11,500 TCF
visits in the next three
years – that's a big
shift. A lot of firms
who think they are below
the regulatory radar
aren't any more."
The problem is no
smaller for the big
institutions, which need
to get the message out
to thousands of
employees scattered
across different
locations.
"TCF will claim some
high profile scalps,"
says Smith.
Enter the computer
game. Computer games
have the capacity be
distributed to and
involve thousands or | |
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| | even millions of people
in a very short space of
time – Microsoft's
Solitaire is probably
the most widely played
game in history
(although it's always
wise to keep a pack of
cards handy in case of
computer failure).
The Consulting
Consortium has been
working on a concept
called Serious Learning.
The concept has already
been used to teach
strategy, diversity and
finance, but now the
firm has developed a
game which embodies the
concepts of TCF.
This not only solves
the distribution
problem, but, Smith
believes, overcomes the
drawbacks of previous
e-learning strategies by
involving users in a
much deeper way.
"Unlike with a
simulation, you can have
a different outcome each
time," says Smith. "You
can change how you win
or lose: these are
serious games where you
really do learn by
doing."
Because it's a
computer game, costs are
low and can "touch
everybody's price
point", says Smith,
starting from as little
as £1 per user per year.
But the games can be
customised at various | |
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| | levels, such as
replicating the look and
feel of the client
organisation.
"That might sound
superficial but it
actually aids the
learning process," says
Smith. "Or it might be
an in-company process
that we bespoke, or we
might also do some
consultancy with the
client."
Trying to extend the
reach of a consultancy
firm – particularly in
the key area of
knowledge transfer – has
always been difficult. I
suspect that if these
kinds of games take off,
we might be at the
beginning of an exciting
new era in business
transformation.
In the meantime, with
much of the financial
services industry either
in denial or frozen in
the headlights over
Treating Customers
Fairly, it might be a
good moment to
investigate the
possibilities of play.
"There are lots of
things we have to do as
part of the statutory
requirements," says
Smith. "If you can make
it a game then it
becomes much more
exciting." | |
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