While juggling three torches, I found myself carrying on a casual conversation with someone at the street fair. I had to pause my flashy tricks - like the ones where I swipe down quickly to make a loud ‘WUFFF’ of noise, or spin a torch around the outside of my elbow - so I could [...]
People who wear glasses will flash a bright white square in the reflection of their lenses when they navigate to a new tab. If a virtual meeting is boring, it’s easy to multitask, check emails, and scroll through social media. The person leading the meeting was reading her bullet points off of a slide, which [...]
Every time I picked up the phone, I put another paperclip into the jar on my desk. I was playing a simple game with my work, to make it more entertaining (and achievable). The list in front of me had 10 names and phone numbers. Every time I dialled a number, I put a [...]
When I was a kid, I spent many happy hours memorizing the colorful lights and sounds of Simon. One of the early handheld electronic games, Simon was both simple and friendly: it would light up one of four colored buttons and play a note, and in response, you would press the same button. Then [...]
Work without will or wonder is just drudgery. Play is an overlap of work, will, and wonder, and it transforms how we participate in the act of working.Bringing play into your work increases your capacity to do work well. Think of the seven dwarves, toiling in the mines; they knew to whistle while you work. Play makes [...]
We trade value between 6 currencies of exchange: 😃 Happiness 😃 📣 Attention 📣 ⏰ Time ⏰ 💰 Money 💰 🏅 Reputation🏅 💡 Innovation💡 A far deal trades one of these 6 currencies for another, at a rate of exchange that benefits everyone. Living in New Zealand, I often have to exchange monetary currencies. [...]
Bryan Whitefield is an Australian management consultant who specializes in risk-based decision making. With many of Australia’s leading companies and powerful government agencies as clients, he has been running a successful black belt practice with a small team. They recently redesigned his WordPress website, and were having trouble integrating their InfusionSoft installation. After the [...]
Gamification stimulates five hormones that our brains use to regulate emotions, mood, and decisions: Oxytocin: the ‘empathy’ hormone Cortisol: the ’stress’ hormone Endorphin: the ‘euphoria’ hormones Dopamine: the ‘reward’ hormone Serotonin: the ‘balance’ hormone Different gamification techniques trigger specific hormones in our brains. If you understand their physiological effects, and how to stimulate them [...]
Three years ago, I fell severely ill with an autoimmune disorder. I'll spare you the details (but they were bloody uncomfortable). This illness transformed my life. It also transformed my body:For someone who is used to being strong and having high endurance, the change was drastic. I used to rely on my American work ethic [...]
Before I learned how to manage my tasks, my time, and my priorities, my desk was a huge pile of junk. I had long to-do lists that were never getting done. I was so overwhelmed by everything I had to do, I felt like I was drowning in obligations. Then someone threw me a [...]