The Kids are Alright: How the Gamer Generation is Changing the Workplace (Paperback)

by John C. Beck (Author), Mitchell Wade (Author)
Key Phrases: frequent gamers, moderate gamers, game generation, Nongamer Moderate Frequent Nongamer Moderate Frequent, Younger Older, United States (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
Those who are looking for a contrarian view of video games will find it in these pages. While many parents fret about their children’s minds turning to goo as they squander hour after hour absorbed in electronic diversion, the authors argue that gamers glean valuable knowledge from their pastime and that they’re poised to use that knowledge to transform the workplace. Beck (The Attention Economy: Understanding the New Currency of Business) and Mitchell (DoCoMo—Japan’s Wireless Tsunami: How One Mobile Telecom Created a New Market and Became a Global Force) base their claims on an exclusive survey of approximately 2000 business professionals. That survey, say the authors, provides the first data showing a direct, statistically verifiable link between digital games and professional behavior in the workplace. The authors express their analysis in clean, crisp prose devoid of jargon, making it accessible for non-gamers, especially non-gamers who are managers. "Gamers believe that winning matters," Beck and Wade contend, and gamers also place "a high value on competence—wanting to be an expert in the first place"—all of which makes the video game generation, estimated by the authors to be some 90 million strong, an influential force in the work place. The book touches on a handful of other ways in which gamers differ from non-gamers and provides suggestions on how employers can take advantage of their unique values and skills. Some readers may find themselves grinding their teeth at many of the authors’ upbeat conclusions about the benefits video game players will bring to the business world, but most will find the pair’s findings fascinating and provocative.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Review
"Got Game deserves credit for drawing attention to an issue...in 200 bright and breezy pages." -- The Financial Times, 21 October, 2004 --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 204 pages
• Publisher: Harvard Business School Press; 1 edition (November 1, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1422104354
• ISBN-13: 978-1422104354
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 5.4 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (35 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #533,603 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

26 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Cheat codes for managing gamers, November 10, 2004

By	Graeme Williams (Waltham, MA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Got Game: How the Gamer Generation Is Reshaping Business Forever (Hardcover)

This is a book comparing the attitudes and work habits of two groups of people: those who grew up playing video games and those who didn't. The basis of the book, the jumping off point for Beck and Wade's analysis, is a *lot* of data collected in surveys by the authors. The analysis is based on how much gaming you did growing up, not how much you do now -- I don't get credit for my mastery of Rise of Nations. That makes sense given the number of hours involved. I'm fifty-two, I was old when the first computer games came out, but my children don't know a world without them. They have literally thousands of hours more gaming experience than I do.

You can call this a generation gap -- the authors analyze the data by age as well as gaming experience -- but over and over again the data suggest that gaming is more important than age. I can see the parts of my own personality that resonate with games, blowing away monsters as well as solving puzzles in resource allocation, but that's a coincidence reinforced by choosing games I like. My children, the data say, have been molded by games.

Have you ever used a slide rule? My father used one routinely, but although I know how, I've never used one to solve a real problem. It's just not part of my conceptual tool bag. When you bump into a business problem, do you reach for a metaphorical slide rule, recall a metaphor from Wordsworth, or make a list? Gamers hit a key or button or mouse, and they do it as fast as they can. Trial and error (and speed!) have been built in to their wiring from their first video game on. That's not the only characteristic discussed in the book. There's a list of twenty in the introduction, including expecting the world to be simple, logical, structured, rapidly learnable, forgiving of error, fair and ultimately solvable.

You can argue about what a terrible thing this is, just like the ancient Romans complained about sloppy togas on their teens. Trial and error wouldn't have built the interstate highway system, got us to the moon, etc., etc. But trial and error is an excellent strategy for taking advantage of a rapidly changing environment. I could quote the control theory to back this up, but that's the point: gamers would have tried four or fourteen or forty new ideas while I was building the model.

Beck and Wade analyze the data, illuminate the differences that gamers bring to a business environment, untangle benefits from prejudices and discuss how managers can manage and motivate gamers to take advantage of these benefits. Even if the idea of yet another corporate team-building exercise makes your skin crawl, you're better off knowing how your younger colleagues think. The book is an excellent combination of data and discussion, so it should be useful and accessible to anyone. Other than gamers, of course; they never read the manual.

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars You'll either love it or hate it. I loved it., May 3, 2005

By	J. David Evans (Austin, TX USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Got Game: How the Gamer Generation Is Reshaping Business Forever (Hardcover)

To start, it's not about how it's OK to hole-up and game all day. But it does make a solid case for gaming---and that means your current point-of-view is to going to quickly shape your reaction to this book. But hang in there...because you really can't ignore the truth of the impact on risk-taking, perseverance, innovation...and it's role in shaping managers. No matter how you feel about gaming...and whether you game or not...this book provides and insightful look into what's shaping the next crop of managers. Resource scarcity shaped my grandfather; the boundless optimism of the 50s shaped my Dad. TV and "instant solutions" (read "this quarter...") shaped me. Games are shaping my son. I think he's the one to watch.

13 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Got Game zaps smug boomers, October 20, 2004

By	Jonathan Huggett - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Got Game: How the Gamer Generation Is Reshaping Business Forever (Hardcover)

Ever been bored by management's endless sports cliches? 'We're in the right ball park.' 'He's playing Monday morning quarterback'. 'We're on a sticky wicket', etc. Ever note that senior management talks a lot about male ball sports, but yet can now barely walk around a golf course, and look more like a football than a player? And have you noticed that without a hint of irony, these smug boomers neither respect nor understand the games that millions enjoy daily?

Got game zaps the smug boomers. It explains that video games teach tons of skill, build self confidence and, yes, you knew it, encourage good team behaviour. And it points out that these benefits are mostly lost on the boomer generation.

The authors lay out their research that shows how these skills really give an edge in business. Gamers develop the leadership and entrepreneurial edge that managers say they want. If only they knew how to spot it.

For those of us who never quite understood why whacking balls had much to do with making money, Got Game is refreshing look at how the gamer generation can contribute so much more.

The dot com boom owes a lot to the Gamer generation. All that energy, innovation, risk-taking was intense, just like a game. Yes, there was the dot com crash, too. But you are reading this on Amazon, aren't you?