Gamification Mechanic Monday: Fouls
In sports games players have the opportunity to redeem themselves even if they make a foul, providing the nature of the foul is not dangerous and intentional which in some sports can be rewarded a red card, expulsion or sin bin time. The number of available fouls can vary from 2 to upwards, before a player is forced to sit down on the bench for the remaining part of the game.
In business a similar system can provide the opportunity to learn from mistakes and to still remain involved in a project. Last week I read an article where in Virgin companies the culture is to forgive mistakes, because most humans will make them at some point. As a gamification mechanic it can assist in creating new working habits and influence culture away from a blame and shame towards a to err is human, let’s move on.
From a gamification design perspective it is a great way to encourage a cultural change in this direction. The key is to identify who will be the referee and define what classes as a foul. In most organisation immediate dismissal procedures are already in place, so major fouls are already documented. It is the minor more day-to-day business mistakes which may not necessarily affect the company in it’s entirety, but they may indeed affect a particular project.
What kind of fouls would you consider as forgivable in business gamification.
