andrewlb notes

Gamestorming

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Gamestorming

Metadata

Highlights

  • While a business process creates a solid, secure chain of cause and effect, gamestorming creates something different: not a chain, but a framework for exploration, experimentation, and trial and error. The path to the goal is not clear, and the goal may in fact change. (Location 542)
  • concept of operations, or CONOPS, to (1) create an overall picture of the system and the goals that they want to achieve, and (2) communicate that picture to the people who will work together to reach those goals. A concept of operations is a way to say, "Given what we know today, here is how we think this system works, and here is how we plan to approach it." A concept of operations is a way to imagine a world. (Location 554)
  • a paper titled "Radical innovation: crossing boundaries with interdisciplinary teams," Cambridge researcher Alan Blackwell and colleagues identified fuzzy goals (they called it a pole-star vision) as an essential element of successful innovation. A fuzzy goal is one that "motivates the general direction of the work, without blinding the team to opportunities along the journey." One leader described his approach as "sideways management." Important factors identified by the Cambridge research team include the balance between focus and serendipity, and coordinating team goals and the goals of individual collaborators. (Location 565)
  • What is the optimal level of fuzziness? To define a fuzzy goal you need a certain amount of ESP: fuzzy goals are Emotional, Sensory, and Progressive. (Location 574)
  • The process of moving toward the goal is also a learning process, sometimes called successive approximation. As the team learns, the goals may change, so it's important to stop every once in awhile and look around. Fuzzy goals must be adjusted (and sometimes, completely changed) based on what you learn as you go. (Location 585)
  • A key concept in game design is a variation on opening and closing called break out/report back, where a larger group diverges by breaking out into smaller subgroups, plays a game or two, and converges by reporting back the outcome of their efforts to the larger group. This is a way to keep groups small and dynamic, and also increase the variety of ideas, by playing multiple games in parallel. (Location 660)
  • Don't open and close at the same time. You can't be creative and critical simultaneously. People's minds just don't work that way. When you are exploring creative possibilities you need to shut down the critical part of your mind, and when you are making difficult choices, you should not try to be creative. Keep them separate and do them in order. (Location 716)
  • The most common and powerful fire-starter is the question. A good question is like an arrow you can aim at any challenge. (Location 734)
  • It's important that they not try to name the columns. Naming the columns too early will force them back into familiar, comfortable patterns. Remember that in creative work we are trying to help people generate and see new patterns. (Location 789)
  • A good sketch has just enough information to get an idea across, and no more. But sketching out ideas cannot be the sole domain of the artist, sculptor, or actor. Most of us convey our thoughts verbally or in writing, but this is only one channel of communication, and limiting our ideas to a single channel is a serious constraint on thinking. (Location 806)
  • into uncharted waters. When you begin, it's impossible to know how near or far the answer—if there is an answer—may be. There are five kinds of questions for finding your way in complex challenge spaces: opening, navigating, (Location 918)

public: true

title: Gamestorming longtitle: Gamestorming author: Dave Gray, Sunni Brown, and James Macanufo url: , source: kindle last_highlight: 2015-06-17 type: books tags:

Gamestorming

rw-book-cover

Metadata

Highlights

  • While a business process creates a solid, secure chain of cause and effect, gamestorming creates something different: not a chain, but a framework for exploration, experimentation, and trial and error. The path to the goal is not clear, and the goal may in fact change. (Location 542)
  • concept of operations, or CONOPS, to (1) create an overall picture of the system and the goals that they want to achieve, and (2) communicate that picture to the people who will work together to reach those goals. A concept of operations is a way to say, "Given what we know today, here is how we think this system works, and here is how we plan to approach it." A concept of operations is a way to imagine a world. (Location 554)
  • a paper titled "Radical innovation: crossing boundaries with interdisciplinary teams," Cambridge researcher Alan Blackwell and colleagues identified fuzzy goals (they called it a pole-star vision) as an essential element of successful innovation. A fuzzy goal is one that "motivates the general direction of the work, without blinding the team to opportunities along the journey." One leader described his approach as "sideways management." Important factors identified by the Cambridge research team include the balance between focus and serendipity, and coordinating team goals and the goals of individual collaborators. (Location 565)
  • What is the optimal level of fuzziness? To define a fuzzy goal you need a certain amount of ESP: fuzzy goals are Emotional, Sensory, and Progressive. (Location 574)
  • The process of moving toward the goal is also a learning process, sometimes called successive approximation. As the team learns, the goals may change, so it's important to stop every once in awhile and look around. Fuzzy goals must be adjusted (and sometimes, completely changed) based on what you learn as you go. (Location 585)
  • A key concept in game design is a variation on opening and closing called break out/report back, where a larger group diverges by breaking out into smaller subgroups, plays a game or two, and converges by reporting back the outcome of their efforts to the larger group. This is a way to keep groups small and dynamic, and also increase the variety of ideas, by playing multiple games in parallel. (Location 660)
  • Don't open and close at the same time. You can't be creative and critical simultaneously. People's minds just don't work that way. When you are exploring creative possibilities you need to shut down the critical part of your mind, and when you are making difficult choices, you should not try to be creative. Keep them separate and do them in order. (Location 716)
  • The most common and powerful fire-starter is the question. A good question is like an arrow you can aim at any challenge. (Location 734)
  • It's important that they not try to name the columns. Naming the columns too early will force them back into familiar, comfortable patterns. Remember that in creative work we are trying to help people generate and see new patterns. (Location 789)
  • A good sketch has just enough information to get an idea across, and no more. But sketching out ideas cannot be the sole domain of the artist, sculptor, or actor. Most of us convey our thoughts verbally or in writing, but this is only one channel of communication, and limiting our ideas to a single channel is a serious constraint on thinking. (Location 806)
  • into uncharted waters. When you begin, it's impossible to know how near or far the answer—if there is an answer—may be. There are five kinds of questions for finding your way in complex challenge spaces: opening, navigating, (Location 918)