Are You Game?

Gamification is one of the interesting concepts I had explored in spring. Kids are often intrigued by interesting games. Most of us grew up playing some kind of games. Which was your favorite? Adults are no exception, gluing themselves to chairs and facing computer screens all day. In layman terms, gamification leverages on the inherent fun-loving nature of human beings to improve engagement and achieve certain behaviors. Behaviors can be desirable or otherwise. Game creators are responsible for designing games for the betterment of humankind.

The spring class 15.571 “Business Strategy and the Role of IT” was taught by Dr. Jeanne Ross, Director, Center for Information Systems Research at MIT. The semester long class project provided the opportunity for my project team to work closely with Fidelity. The aim of the project was to evaluate and analyze the existing level of customer engagement with Fidelity’s online financial tools, and put forward recommendations to improve customer engagement via gamification. My team did extensive research on gamification. One of the literatures we found particularly useful was “Gamification by Design”, where most ideas for the class project and this article should be credited to.

Eventually, my project team presented five recommendations to Fidelity  (Lee, Schlossberg, Seelhof, Teo, & Wong, 2012). Instead of going into the details of the recommendations, I thought it would be interesting to generalize the framework of our recommendations for a wider range of applications. In this article, I attempted to apply gamification concepts to the workplace. The framework consists of five key elements, namely engagement score, onboard, direct, progress, and rewards.

Engagement score

Before the game starts, we need to know exactly how engagement is measured. If the games are to be played over the Internet, some components of the score are virality, duration, frequency, recency, and ratings. Virality indicates the circulation on the Internet (e.g. number of retweets, number of shares, and number of likes) while rating gauges how the players like the game (e.g. number of stars in a movie or book reviews). Duration quantifies the length of visit, frequency measures the number of revisits, and recency determines the last visit. Depending on the intent of the game, components of the score can have different levels of significance. 

What about gaming at the workplace? How engaged are the employers? Engaged employees tend to be more productive, which eventually leads to the success of the company. Employee surveys and feedback can measure the level of engagement. Of course, the right questions must be asked and these questions differ from company to company. Other indicators of engagement can be turnover rate, employee satisfaction, and employee absenteeism.

Onboard

The first minute game experience is crucial. It determines if the player is going to stay, return, and recommend the game to his social circle. Netizens have liked, shared, and invited their friends to play games they enjoyed on Facebook.

At the workplace, the employees’ physical presence is not good enough. The manager must win over their hearts. Get them onboard, emotionally. First impression counts. The word-of-mouth effect is powerful. Like it or not, people will talk about the organization, within or outside. Onboarding starts from day one, or maybe during the first interview.

Direct

Once the player is onboard, the next step is to direct him to his area of interests as quickly as possible. A group of tourists enters an amusement park and they look for signs and maps to direct them.

Employees have different interests and desired career paths. Finding a good fit is the important next step. Mentoring is analogous to directing in the game of work.

Progress

Keeping the player engaged is the most difficult part of the game. The player becomes bored and loses interest if the game is too easy. On the contrary, the player gets frustrated and dreads playing if the game becomes too difficult. The key is to keep the player sufficiently challenged, yet allowing him to advance in the game. Game designers need to master the “flow” between boredom and frustration. Think of the progress bar. Players want to see the bar progress move from 0% to 50% to 100%. Once completed, it’s time to enter the next higher level. Individual and team progress are mutually supportive.

The same is at the workplace. To employees, progression is one of the most important things they constantly look out for, if not the most. It needs to be carefully designed to sustain interest and engagement. Building a strong support network is part of progress, together with directing/mentoring.

Rewards

Rewards are incentives for the continued engagement of gamers. Rewards come in the form of status, access, power and stuff (SAPS). Credit card providers reward customers by upgrading them to different status (e.g. silver, gold, platinum), depending on the number of frequent flyer miles collected for example. High net worth banking clients enjoy privileged access to exclusive venues and events, depending on the amount of assets under management. High performing and established gamers are given the authority to moderate discussions or have some form of control over other gamers. Coffee chains reward loyal customers with free beverages (stuff) for every set of loyalty stickers collected.

While SAPS come with career progression and promotions, monetary means are not the only ways to recognize and reward individuals. A simple “thank you” or gesture does the trick. Rewarding performing teams with a dinner appointment with the CEO can work wonders (i.e. access to senior management and reward with good food/stuff).

Look around. The elements of games are everywhere. Based on the engagement score, adjustments are made to the onboard, direct, progress, and rewards elements. If the gaming effect could be harnessed, there would certainly be more happy and engaged people around, as well as more success stories. Are you game?

My friend and classmate Ming Fai wrote an article on Gamification too. Please check it out!

Thanks very much for reading.

Works Cited

Lee, H., Schlossberg, E., Seelhof, M., Teo, K. S., & Wong, M. F. (2012). Fidelity Engagement and Gamification. MIT.

Zichermann, G., & Cunningham, C. (2011). Gamification by Design. O'Reilly Media, Inc.

The Leader

(This picture was taken when I visited Acadia National Park, Maine, USA. The leader leaves a trail for others to follow.)

My inspiration for this post came from the impending leadership transition at school. A good manager may not be a good leader, but a good leader is certainly a good manager. Managing is “hard” while leading is more “soft” than "hard". Mastering the art of balancing between the “hard” and “soft” is the most challenging part of leadership.  

Character shows over time, and especially in times of hardship. No leader will endure the test of time without integrity and humility because he will not have any followers. Character is shaped by one’s education and life experiences. No one is really born a leader. Predictability, consistency, fairness, and stability are hallmark of great leaders. Instead of describing all the desirable qualities of great leaders like in this paragraph, I wrote a few short stories on people in my life who have demonstrated remarkable leadership.   

It was my birthday in 2008 and one of my birthday cards wrote, “No one lights a lamp and hides it in a jar or puts it under a bed. Instead, he puts it on a stand, so that those who come in can see the light.” It was from my superior and I was slated to take on a higher appointment. The next sentence was, “It is a heavier responsibility which you will not shoulder alone.” Together with the card was a nice torchlight, which I needed. His simple words and gesture had a great influence on me.

It had been three long days of sweat and a team of engineers had been troubleshooting an aircraft problem to no avail. My teammates and I were demoralized. We tried almost everything we could. When we got down the aircraft, we saw him in his long sleeve shirt and pants, squatting near the belly of the aircraft and staring at the antennas. He didn’t need to, but he came down from his comfortable air-conditioned office. He went on to share his 30 years of aircraft engineering experience with us. From that day, he came everyday and stayed hours with us until the issue was resolved. His dedication and rapport with the engineers were outstanding.

The commanding officer of an infantry battalion was one of the eldest soldiers in the unit. Nonetheless, he was the fastest runner. He was also the top graduate for his commanding officer course. He knew the names of all the officers, and most of the specialists and soldiers. Knowing most of them in person, he struck conversations just like their good friends. He used language and gestures that struck a chord with the soldiers. He made everyone a hero whenever possible, but held himself accountable. Soldiers with existing medical conditions stepped up and came forward when it was crunch time. Outside his military obligations, he has a successful career. He is also a good husband and a caring father of three. 

The team had good but not the best players in the soccer league. Each player had his strengths and weaknesses. They were of various background, religion, race, and spoke different languages. The coach prepared the team for the inter varsity competition, and the team went on to clinch the championship for the first time in history. He was the chief architect of the team’s success. He harnessed the best out of the players he had, and timed the peak of the team’s performance to perfection.

She is extremely busy but provides undivided attention during one-on-one conversations. Because she listens so carefully and attentively to everyone, her perspective is always holistic and balanced. She sees things that most people don’t. That is hard work. She speaks her mind as appropriate. Even when the situation is tricky, she gets her point across with grace and finesse. She has a great sense of humor and her laughter is contagious. Even when she doesn’t know the answer, she is able to point to the right direction or someone who can help. Once she knows that you are reliable and eager to learn, she empowers and elevates you, mentoring you along the way. When mistakes are made, she is magnanimous. Forward looking but always keeping in mind the lessons of the past, she advances with confidence and optimism, focusing her energy on things that matters most. She becomes a good follower when she needs to.

Last but not least, the true measure of a great leader is nothing but influence. When we meet great leaders, learn from them. Follow them. 

Thanks very much for reading.

Architect Your Life

Related article: Dynamics of the Quality of Life

My inspiration for this post came from two sources. The first was Clayton M. Christensen’s article on “How Will You Measure Your Life” on Harvard Business Review (Christensen, 2012). The second was the class “16.855/ESD.38 Enterprise Architecting” taught by Professor Deborah Nightingale (Professor of the Practice of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Professor of Engineering Systems at MIT), as well as Dr. Donna Rhodes (Senior Lecturer, Engineering Systems at MIT). The first source triggered my thoughts on life in general, while my heuristics assignment in the enterprise architecting class (Nightingale & Rhodes, 2012) motivated me to pen this.

In layman terms, heuristics are rules of thumb, educated guesses, common sense, and advice from experience. Enterprise architecting refers to designing business organizations for success. What is success in business? What is happiness in our lives? How about sadness and disappointment? How do we diagnose and architect our lives? I relooked into my heuristic assignment for inspiration. Here are the final heuristics that made my list, with two very important caveats.

Legend:

E: Heuristic for enterprise architecting

L: Heuristic for architecting our lives

H: Heuristic that applies to both E and L

P: Prescriptive

D: Descriptive

Caveat 1

[P] Decide what you stand for. Uphold it, always. [D] 100% of the time is easier than 98% of the time.  (Christensen, 2012)

Caveat 2

[P] Be humble. [D] Everyone knows something you don’t.

[1] Impetus for Change

H1: [P] Good enough? Think again. [D] It never hurts to be better.

[2] Sponsorship

E2: [P] Champion from the top, reconcile from the bottom. [D] Togetherness is the road to success. Otherwise is the road to mess.

L2: [P] You are the champion of your life, but find a few (not one) good mentors. [D] You think you know what you want, but your mentors may think otherwise.

Mentors can be anyone. They form your panel of judges. They can be virtual in your mind or physically present, as long as you can predict how they would behave in a given situation and their advice.

[3] Understand the Landscape

E3: [P] Invest effort to understand the business. [D] Slow is smooth, smooth is better.

L3: [P] Diagnose yourself and your surroundings. [D] Slow is smooth, smooth is better.

An accurate diagnosis of the current circumstances is the prerequisite for formulating  good strategies. Focus on both internal and external factors. External factors such as economic fluctuations are hardly within your control but worth your attention. Internal factors for enterprises include strategy, organization, processes, infrastructure, knowledge, information, outputs (products and services). 


All the internal factors can be readily applied to an individual. What are your goals (objectives)? Who is in your network (organization)? What are your steps (processes) and equipment (infrastructure)? Do you have the knowledge and information required? What is your output?

[4] Understand your Stakeholders

E4: [P] Build an insider (stakeholder) network. [D] Insights beat tons of market research.

L4: [P] Think of people that matter and (don’t matter) to you. [D] They don’t necessary value things you do.

Stakeholders of enterprises include shareholders, leadership, employees, partners, suppliers, customers, unions, society, etc. Stakeholders of individuals include family, relatives, mentors, friends, spouse, children, neighbors, bosses, subordinates, colleagues, classmates, public etc. The significance of various stakeholders may change over time. One stakeholder can be more important than another now, but that can change with time.

[5] Capture As-Is (Current) State

H5: [P] Define your meaning of success. [D] You are what you measure. The definition of success must reconcile the landscape, metrics, processes, and stakeholders.

Know exactly what is success and how you are measuring it. Be very specific. Metrics drive behavior.

[6] Create Vision

H6: [P] Be sure to reconcile your vision with the landscape. [D] Coherence is key.

[7] Generate Ideas

E7: [P] Ignore the proxy for creativity. [D] Baggage stifles new perspectives. 

L7: [P] Ask for another opinion (not your mentor, but someone you trust). [D] A new pair of eyes and ears offers new perspectives.

[8] Derive To-Be (Future) Architecture

H8: [P] Fuse the best concepts. [D] Synergies exist between them.

Architecture refers to how all the factors related to internal and external landscape fit together. 

[9] Validate To-Be (Future) Architecture

E9: [P] Bounce your To-Be Architecture off the proxy. [D] Intricacies will emerge to complete the picture. 

L9: [P] Bounce your To-Be Architecture off your mentors. [D] Intricacies will emerge to complete the picture. 

Proxy refers to an enterprise representative.

[10] Formulate Action Plan

H10: [P] Transform talk into actions! [D] Journey satisfies, destination satiates.

The journey is more important than the destination? They are equally important. We learn most during the journey, but destinations/milestones/"small wins" motivate us to do better and march on. We need both. If we touch our hearts, the destination matters more than we think.

[11] Work in Progress

H11: [P] Think, action and check. Keep repeating. [D] Journey to success is constant hard work, measurement and adjustment. Beware of disturbances.


Nothing is achieved without labor. Get moving.

My friend and classmate Ming Fai wrote an interesting article "Architecture of my life". Check it out!

Thanks very much for reading.

P.S. My synthesis of enterprise architecting and control theory. (Teo, 2012)

Works Cited

Christensen, C. M. (2010, July). How Will You Measure Your Life? Retrieved May 15, 2012, from Harvard Business Review: http://hbr.org/2010/07/how-will-you-measure-your-life/ar/pr

Nightingale, D., & Rhodes, D. (2012). 16.855/ESD.38 Enterprise Architecting Class Materials at MIT. Cambridge, MA, USA.

Teo, K. S. (2012). 16.855/ESD.38: Enterprise Architecting Heuristics Assignment. MIT, ESD.

Rethink Safety

Related Article: Hindsight Bias and Fundamental Attribution Error

Today's the last class for "16.863/ESD.863 System Safety". This class is taught by Professor Nancy Leveson, Professor of Aeronautics and Astronautics, and Professor of Engineering Systems at MIT. She is well recognized for her work in system and software safety. More of her work can be found at here.

In the aftermath of accidents, reports and legal proceedings tend to focus on assigning blame to individuals whose actions led to the mishaps. Assigning blame is easy,  but does very little to prevent future accidents from happening. My view on safety has changed over the course of the class. Specifically, it shifted from focusing on individual responsibility and errors to viewing safety as a control problem. Also, it reaffirmed my view that quantifying safety with probablisitic numbers is not meaningful. 10^-9 for software coding errors? How did the number come about?

STAMP (System-Theoretic Accident Modeling and Processes) and STPA (System-Theoretic Process Analysis) are powerful techniques developed by Professor Leveson to perform accident analysis and hazard analysis. The techniques  (Leveson, 2012) are not perfect, but certainly better than unrealistic probabilistic estimations. These techniques can be applied to sociotechnical systems, and a wide variety of industry applications including aerospace, nuclear, financial, chemical, oil and gas, and so on. More details, examples, and applications of STAMP/STPA can be found in the book "Engineering a Safer World"and here.

The just culture movement (Dekker, 2008) promotes learning from mistakes rather than blaming and punishing people. Being blame-free does not equate to being accountability-free. On the contrary, just culture promotes the active involvement of people to help build better and safer systems to work in or with. The key is to see accountability as forward-looking instead of backward looking. Backward looking includes the acts of blaming and punishing which does not really help to reduce the reoccurrence of similar accidents. The forward-looking mindset concentrates on making improvements to the system to prevent similar accidents from happening again. 

Actions of improvement speak louder than words of blame. Punishment serves as deterrence but does little to prevent future accidents if the system is inherently deficient. It is easier to design safer systems than to change people. Be safe than sorry!

As part of my class project, I came up with a safety control structure for the Traffic Collision Avoidance System (TCAS). Professor Leveson liked it and I'm sharing it here.

Thanks very much for reading.

Works Cited

Leveson, N. G. (2012). Engineering a Safer World. MA: The MIT Press.

Dekker, S. (2008). Just culture: who gets to draw the line? Cogn Tech Work.

Teo, K. S. (2012). 16.863/ESD.863 System Safety Class Project: STPA for TCAS. MIT, ESD.

My First Post

I am humbled by the opportunity to attend MIT. Entering into my fifth month at MIT, I took a moment to stop and reflect. I have changed little as a person, but my thoughts and experiences have expanded both vertically and laterally. This would not be possible if I weren't here at MIT. Many brilliant minds, thoughts, ideas, and opportunities flourish day in day out from people of the different continents around the world, provoking my mind and actions. I needed some place to capture and share. I thought of writing in a notebook, but I decided otherwise. Hence my first post. Please feel free to comment or drop me a note. Thanks very much for reading. More to come in this space.