Gamification in general will have a huge impact on the workplace, as well as other areas of our lives, going forward. Play is already taking over as one of the core tenets in a happy and productive workplace. I had a client who joined a company in the past year that encourages playing games throughout the day. It adds to innovation and lowers stress. There's also an element of collaboration in many games. This strengthens teamwork and taps into everyone's core strengths, much as has been described about fantasy sports here.
There are other things that kids play at which most likely will improve their business skills. We've already seen, for example, the Armed Forces use video games to help troops improve their reflexes and thinking on the spot capabilities.
Having just waded through years' of my daughter's past toys and collectibles, I wonder what useful, lifetime skills (beyond hoarding) she may have picked up from Pokemon cards and Bakugan (sp?). I know she learned to be at ease with the computer with games like Webkinz and Club Penguin, of course.
Now, now, PaulS: Of course Jeter's a Yankee! 2012 is hardly representative of the entire franchise. And don't get me started on why the HoF ignored Bernie. But that's a whole other post for a different forum, so I'll behave. And if they diss my Jorge when he's eligible I may have to start a whole new website. Just sayin'.
The familiarity and skill set of fantasy sports players is sure to influence workplace hiring preferences. Similarly, go-to-market strategies, such as promotions and contests, will appeal to the growing numbers of people plugged into these activities. Schools and corporate training programs will also incorporate fantasy sports learning mechanisms that instruct and entertain.
I love to see people -- young people in particular -- exercising their minds at anything. Even if it never goes anywhere, it's still valuable. We underestimate the value of creative play.
That Derek Jeter is a much better shortstop...! Kidding aside, this was a great aritcle, Jeff, because I think this really underscores one of the great ways in which businesses can really benefit from what people like to do, and how we absorb knowledge through osmosis when we learn in an enjoyable way.
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The US National Security Agency learned the hard way that it can be dangerous to give a contractor too much money and access, with too little scrutiny. The NSA and other government agencies hire tens of thousands of contractors
a year to analyze data. Edward Snowden -- who revealed himself as the NSA leaker after fleeing the country -- was one such contractor, reportedly holding a $122,000 salaried position at Booz Allen Hamilton at the time of his departure.
Midsize businesses rarely achieve the same standards of security in their own datacenters as professional providers that specialize in delivering these services to organizations.
Big-data and analytics tools enable marketers to understand customers as individuals, identifying unmet needs and addressing each customer as a "segment of one," says John Kennedy, VP corporate marketing, IBM.
New York's Metropolitan Transit Authority is conducting a pilot test of digital kiosks to guide subway users to where they want to go more efficiently and at lower cost.
The whole Amazon.reader debate is a double-stupid. It's stupid to think that there's any e-book buyer who doesn't know Amazon's URL, and it was stupider to let ICANN launch the whole free-form TLD initiative to start with.
While NFC's original goal was to enhance mobile commerce applications, it is finding its way into a number of other uses, which is creating both opportunity as well as challenges for IT departments.
Enterprises would like to move to cloud computing but are hesitant because they are concerned about providers’ ability to secure company data. Here are some tips that help to ensure that if breaches occur, the business is not left holding the bag.
Edmunds separates customers into segments based on the info it collects on its site and from partners, and uses that to push out custom content, said Brian Baron, director of business analytics for Edmunds.com, at Predictive Analytics Innovation Summit.
The IBM Smarter Commerce Global Summit in Monaco kicked into high gear today, and we've already begun to see news emerging from that lovely city-state by the sea.
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