Just saying hello while I read through the posts

hopefully this is just what im looking for looks like i have a lot to read.

Great observations. My work with GameChangers focuses on improvisation for business, and we pay a lot of attention to the underlying game in every scene, not just in group scenes, but in one-to-one interactions, too. (You left out a very popular ‘unproductive game’: Kissing Ass.)

In fact, I believe you can make a case that the most important talent for managers in the Networked World is the ability to identify and support productive games, and quickly edit unproductive ones like those you’ve cited.

Best of luck with the book, and with the work you’re doing. It is powerful stuff.

Thanks for your comments! Alan, the reason I focused on the negative games was to get people’s attention. We all have been in meetings where this kind of thing is going on. I want to whet people’s appetite for a better way — a way to meet more constructively.

In the book we are writing we will have plenty of examples of meetings and work “going right.” But first I want to get people focused on the idea that games are going on all the time and better game literacy can help them understand the dynamics that frustrate them every day and start changing those dynamics.

Some people immediately question why they should consider games as a way to do better work. The thoughts in this post are aimed at those people.