Fascinating, and perhaps scary: When work becomes a game

Video games are big business and soon they could be big in business too.

All of a sudden, say academics and researchers, companies have realised that all the time employees spend gaming in virtual worlds is changing them.

Companies were adopting game mechanics for several reasons, said Dr Reeves.

The main reason was for the transparency it gave to the way workplaces were organised and for revealing who got things done.
“It exposes those that do and do not play well,” said Dr Reeves. “There is a leader board and you know the rules.”
It had the potential to turn workplaces into meritocracies where the most accomplished are easy to spot because they have racked up all rewards, achievements and levels required for a particular post.
While it may not sweep away systems of privilege or end nepotism it had the potential to make workplaces fairer and take some of the grind out of the day job, he said.

BBC, When work becomes a game
But what if you don’t play games? Will familiarity with gaming conventions give some people an advantage? Could you ‘game the system’?

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