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As you may know from a previous post which can be found here, the team are currently aiding a University of Greenwich student with his dissertation project which aims to change an individual’s recycling behaviour through gaming. As the blog has been quite quiet on the gaming front lately, I thought I’d pick up our ‘Top 5 Delicious Links’ and share my favourite gaming articles and websites. So here they are in no particular order…


1) Racing, shooting and zapping your way to better visual skills

Having a vested interest in how online gaming can affect a person’s offline behaviour (both due to the University of Greenwich project and my Social Sciences background), I found this article interesting as it explains how psychological studies have found that gamers have quicker reactions in real life situations as well as during game-playing.

2) No more waiting for the home time bell to start a child’s gaming session

This may be some parent’s worse nightmare, gaming during school. The article explains how one school is letting pupils use mobile phones, mp3 players and gaming devices during lesson time and their rationale behind it.

3) Successful treatments for illness and gaming

The author is very much like me, no gamer at all but can see the potential advantages of it if used in the right way. He makes the bold statement that a new online game called ‘Foldit’ could create new successful treatments for Alzheimer’s, go have a read and see what you think.

4) Nintendo Game takes kids on a treasure hunt outside

Traditionally it has always been assumed that to play a game a person just has to sit in front of a computer or television screen and stay there. However, lately this is not the case, as the article demonstrates a clear and very recent overlap between the online and offline worlds. More about this overlap is also put very nicely in this ‘trend alert’ article….http://www.shapingtomorrow.com/trendAlert.cfm?id=1214

5) Lets Not Forget the Traditional Gaming

In terms of traditional gaming, I thought I’d give a mention to the Social By Social Game, especially as we are considering using it in a future meeting. Social Reporter, David Wilcox has a fabulous post on the game which can be found here, but to give you an overview, teams of individuals (be them social entrepreneurs, innovators, students…) are brought together to firstly discuss the ‘pressing issues’ of a particular town or place. Once several ‘key’ issues have been identified, the teams are set to work solving these problems and are given two sets of cards, one about social technologies and the other about way of engaging people, all of which can be found here. The teams have to choose cards which come to a total of no more than 10 points, then using a set of money and resources, balance the overall budget of the project.

So why not have a go yourself? If you are interested in the game there is a whole community dedicated to discussing and developing the Social By Social concepts and ideas here http://socialbysocial.net/.

You can also read my previous ‘Top 5 Delicious Links’ on Knowledge Management article here.

- Kirsty Russell

Picture: Grey Nintendo DS catridges for games such as Super Mario Brothers, Phoenix Right and Gunpey DS dispersed over a table, with thanks to Rafael_Fyen for publishing on Flickr under a Creative Commons license some rights reserved.

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Top 5 Delicious Links – Gaming

It’s that time of year in TV world – everyone is singing or dancing. For many, it brings welcome respite from the tough times we are in, especially with the knowledge that 2010 will bring more of the same.

Next year the mantra will remain: ‘Do more, with less’. For the world around local government however, the expectation will be for ideas and solutions to keep flowing.

These pressures mean that local government must become more fleet-footed in addressing innovation and change. It calls for being nimble; for nurturing a deeper awareness of the world around; and for becoming experts at connecting challenges, solutions and resource as ‘inspiring enablers’ rather than owners and makers of change. When we crack this, it feels like the organisation is dancing: fluid, open and light.

This may sound woolly, but it is what a truly advanced ‘learning organisation’ is all about. This about creating loops of information, knowledge and ideas that lead to possibility and development without things getting heavy. The challenge for local government is to find space in which to do this against a pressure to batten down hatches. How to make this practical then? Here are some starters for ten on ‘lighter’ innovation:

1. Find your ‘free space’ - places away from formal, tangible work. Free space may take many forms – coffee breaks, short walks, away days, conferences. One example: Quakers using silence in meetings to let new thoughts emerge. At another level, we help people with playful workshops, simulations, even festivals as forms of free space. The key thing here is a common understanding that in this space it is ok to think freely; to play; to ‘rehearse’.

2. Be clear about your reasons for innovation, then, create tangible visions of the future – accessible and meaningful to all. These may be visual reports, models, prototypes and so on. The best visions illustrate the outcomes of innovation. They build a common understanding, they inspire people and they concentrate effort towards a greater goal.

3. Explore dialogue and collaboration techniques to help connect and empower people and ideas. Consider world café and ‘open space’ as ways of getting groups talking. Consider ‘unconferencing’ – conferences flipped on their head so many people can talk to many others. From here, collective wisdom can bloom.

4. Remember the power of networks and partnership. Find win-wins and ‘serendipitous’ possibilities with people that have common goals. Social enterprise is a fascinating place to start here. Think of corporate partners or other local authorities. Better still, communities you work with.

These aspects of working all support purposeful dialogue, learning and sharing – and innovation that is greater than the sum of its parts. This way of working will become more important as the role of councils shift from agents of change to brokers of change. And more, when we get this right it will feel more engaging, more meaningful and more fun. So take it away – let’s face the music, and…

- A special thank you to Andres Roberts, who is the founder of Eudemonic, an agency for collaborative learning and innovation. www.eudemonic.co.uk

Picture: A page of musical notes with thanks to JadeXJustice for publishing on Flickr under a Creative Commons license some rights reserved.

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Let’s face the music and…?

'Lenham Parish Council wanted to update the way in which Transport and Highway issues were recorded and shared with other committee members and other groups. It was felt that the old spreadsheet system was difficult to monitor as members were never sure if it was the most up-to-date copy available.

Therefore a solution was sort so that everybody only ever had one copy and it was always up-to-date. This was achieved by the use of Google docs, a free internet service where you can upload a spreadsheet which is then available to view or amend 24/7 online. You can then protect this by means of a secure password so that only the selected users can work with the document. Another option is to invite viewers to see the document and, as this suggests, they can only view the document and not alter it in any way. The Parish Council linked this free service with a Google mail account, so that all correspondence was in one central location.

So now we are now always up to date, and have more time to devote to the job in hand rather than constantly sending emails out with new file updates. We can share the workload as and when required, which we believe gives the community a better service without any extra costs.'

There you have it, parish councils and county councils alike can use a little bit of initiative and innovation to solve problems and make working life easier and more efficient. Please bear in mind though that not all council teams and departments have the resources to carry out such a large-scale project as the one illustrated above and the process is often long and time consuming, but a little thinking outside the box and an enthusiasm for improvement may prove to be fruitful.

- A special thank you to Lee Davison of Lenham Parish Council for the post, if you would like more information you can contact him at leetonidavison at hotmail dot com.

Picture: The title 'Google Docs' with related words such as 'collaboration', 'free forms' and 'documents' in a smaller font beneath, with thanks to Nedral for publishing under a Creative Comms license some rights reserved.

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The field of neuroscience has developed a great deal over the last decade and the findings are now beginning to influence how we teach and manage others.

In our brains there are two main sub-systems that we refer to as the “Red Zone” (amygdala) and the “Blue Zone” (pre-frontal cortex). The Red Zone evolved first in the brains of our reptilian ancestors, it is responsible for our flight or fight mechanism – our instinctive reaction to danger. When feeling anger, fear or depression MRI scans have shown the Red Zone to “light up”. The effects can also be seen physiologically, our breath becomes shallow and our muscles tense, internally dopamine and adrenaline are released into our system. It severely restricts our ability to think rationally and creatively, our responses will be instinctive and risk-averse.

The Blue Zone evolved later and provides humans with the ability to reflect and learn, it is the source of our creativity. When we are in this state we will generally feel calm, relaxed and better able to exercise judgement. In business it allows us the freedom to think constructively and plan for the future, during the recession we need to benefit from these faculties more than ever to ensure that we are able to create new businesses, new markets and a new economy having learnt from the mistakes of the past.

The brain only has enough energy to put into one zone at a time, understanding and being aware of what triggers each state in ourselves allows us to consciously manage our brains and our thinking.

The recession has offered many examples of organisations reverting to the Red Zone, daily newspaper headlines, TV reports and closing down signs have all literally affected our brains. The Red Zone is important in alerting us to danger and spurring us towards action, but it is only by thinking with the Blue Zone that we are able to effectively and creatively respond. In a recession it is the companies who do this who will be front of the queue in the up-turn.

Therefore as business leaders and managers it is vital for us to recognise when we are in the Red Zone and create strategies to us shift back into the Blue. We can influence not just how we think and approach our work but also that of others by listening deeply, promoting a sense of safety, demonstrating trust and showing respect.

- Peter Harrison, the author, works for entheo, an agency that helps organisations to understand and redefine their ways of thinking and working. For more information about who they are and what they do click here or e-mail him on peter.harrison@entheo.co.uk

The Red Zone /Blue Zone metaphor was coined by Group Eight Education – for more information about their work click here.

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Are you in the Red Zone or the Blue Zone?

Gaming & Training: The key to a kinder, more intelligent mankind?

Google is currently testing a new gadget that will take information from devices such as smart meters, (which are advanced meters that identify consumption in more detail than a conventional meter) collect it and make it more easily available.

Many smart meters do not display consumption information to the user but the Google Power Meter prototype is designed to receive such information and provide access to it via the user’s iGoogle homepage.

Google aims to allow users to make better energy decisions and hopes to work with as many utility companies as possible to deliver the technology for free to anyone with a smart meter.

There could be potential opportunities to use Google’s service to celebrate the most efficient houses, businesses or streets in Kent which could be supported by a blog? If you cannot measure it, then how will you improve?

Photo of a house and metre reading by Google.

See here if you want to find out more about what we're thinking about and looking at around how to make the web work smarter for us. Contact us if you have an idea or any updates.
All consuming Google?

A world café is a method of conducting a meeting in a very informal, relaxed format. Participants are invited to a café style setting (either an actual café or a room set up to resemble one). More relaxed and open conversations are able to take place in these types of settings. Sometimes participants are invited to draw their thoughts and conversations on the paper tablecloths to capture the free flow of ideas.

Meeting members move from table to table to discuss the issue in hand, whilst the host of each table remains behind. Conversations are cross-fertilised by this method and at the end the main ideas are summarised to all and follow up possibilities are discussed.

This follows on from the our research on how technologies disrupt the way we work and what we can do about it.

For more information please see People and Participation or The World Cafe.

Kirsty Russell

(Sketch of an example of a "world cafe" from World Cafe) Can coffee and notes on paper tablecloths liven up meetings?

A new online game has been developed that aims to promote social change. Akoha challenges players to carry out missions that involve performing small acts of kindness for others, for example, donate an hour of your time or giving someone a book. Each time a player performs a mission, he hands his card to the beneficiary.

The beneficiary can then log on with the card ID and write his/her experience of the act of kindness with the option of adding photos and videos. The original player earns points and enters his/her own description and advances in the game. The great feature of this is that you can track your acts of kindness around the globe.

Soon players will be able to suggest their own mission cards and custom design their own decks. This is another example of online/offline becoming blurred and is a clear trend for the future along with more ethical ways of living and supporting the community.

There are endless possibilities if KCC could make their own cards and support players around Kent. Missions could be specific to the Kent area, having a real positive effect on the county. Collaboration with volunteer organisations, colleges, schools, events organisers, local cafes (the list goes on) could help some really exciting and beneficial activities to take place. KCC could offer prizes to the best players as a way of incentive as well as gaining higher status in the game.

A spin off game could involve activities designed to help eco-friendly lifestyles e.g. a card could say buy a re-useable bag for someone or donate something to a local charity shop.

Go here to play and buy your cards!

(picture of an Akoha card on Akoha)
Random acts of kindness

There is no doubt that there is increasing emphasis on sustainable living, Climate Culture has created a virtual world to help consumers reduce their energy consumption. Climate Culture has a patent-pending on a carbon footprint calculator which helps users make lifestyle choices and informed daily actions.
Stop playing and go green

It seems there's a perfect storm going on public services and to be fair this storm has been brewing for a while.

As citizens, we often make contradictory demands to the reality we live in - we're getting older and older and yet we want to do the things we could do when we were young, we're getting richer than our predecessors and yet there's greater inequality, we want our institutions to be more transparent and our own privacy to be more protected.

Of course, this is human nature, but these growing contradictory demands mixed in with the impact of the recession are more likely to disrupt the way we work than what we are used to. As public services, we know that taking good ideas through the current processes and structures we work in are less likely to create genuine change, because those systems were designed for a different era.

Rather than spell out the "game changing" vision that we need to tackle these tensions, the Social by Social game played at Reboot Britain reminded me that maybe games themselves have a role to play. I want to continue the conversation started by various people and spread into local government about the opportunities of gaming - today, I can start off with the big question - why?

To get the ball rolling, this is what we've found so far - gaming can help you simulate real life to train people, influence behaviours and improve self help.


Simulating real life to train people

Training needs to be far more related to real life scenarios, so that people can anticipate and prepare for working in new ways.

However for anticipating crises, you can’t just base scenarios on real life, you need to take a leap into the future. Either way, it’s crucial to involve people who have experienced the scenario to advise you on how design these into gaming.

In terms of preventing everyday crises, combining role playing by actors with simulation hardware may also be necessary. Videoing the simulation or game playing can provide crucial content for feeding back, debriefing and case conferencing. It puts learners on the spot in a safe environment. You can use a simulation lab as a living lab too to involve users.

It can be difficult to know the difference between a “worst case scenario” and a “crisis scenario”, especially if for the latter you may need to involve external stakeholders (like police, health, etc). If you don’t engage them, the game won’t reflect reality and if you do and it’s not a crisis, then you’ve made the game more complicated than it needs to be!

Why not mind map what constitutes a crisis in your area and if you need to develop a game specifically for that, rather or as well as a game using common scenarios?

Influencing behaviours

You need to develop games in ways that give people a better understanding of what your team does and what your customers can do to change the community and their behaviour - helping their friends and enabling them to compete against each other.

Given that gaming puts into perspective the wider choices that may not be so visible to us in our daily lives, it is important that it gets people to think the game matters to them in real life.

For example, Akoha enables people to earn points while playing real world missions with friends, while Climate Culture gives points for people who help their friends take up greener lifestyles and challenges colleges to compete against each other in carbon reduction contests.

Adapting the technique from the game “1 vs 1000” could be adapted so that the councillor (1) polls, asks or trusts their local constituents (100) as part of a remote council meeting. Norwich Union used gaming by giving players the option of becoming a government minister and having to decide how to divert rivers and change planning to protect neighbourhoods from flooding. The HOUSE campaign adopts social marketing concepts which use a range of activities (e.g. dance machines) interactive systems (such as the Wii) and knife-crime games.

These examples show that you need to get people to think the game matters to them in real life and think of the game as making what people may find mundane (i.e. volunteering) more fun. In fact, the process of playing not only encourages people’s creativity and confidence skills, it also puts into perspective the wider choices that may not be so visible to us in our daily lives.

It’s much easier making decisions about what you’d do you an ideal world than what you’ll actually change about your behaviour once you finish the game. So why not give people tasks in the game that ask them to make real changes both within and outside of the game?

Improving self help

By using gaming to improve support for people in need, you can help them plan, act and reconceptualise self help.

For example, Re-Mission, a game for young people with cancer and Routes to explore your genetics potentially play a similar role as Netmums does for digital engagement. World of Warcraft encourages natural mentoring between veterans and newcomers.

In this area, actors are used to either illustrate types of behaviours to gaming developers when designing the technology or to allow attendees to practice their intervention skills when using the online game in a live environment. The technology in this context would need to be customisable to changing circumstances.

Bringing in actors to work with game developers to design the behaviours can be costly and time consuming if the game needs modifying. So why not spend time working out which behaviours you really need actors to illustrate and which you can illustrate yourself to the developer?

Looking at self help for staff, such as when they require updating their knowledge with regards to the new duties they may have, you need the game to bring the perception and emotional connection between the learner and the environment they are confronted with.

Technology doesn’t easily create emotional connections with people. So why not use video embedded within the game which can show people’s emotions?

Market key messages virally

By letting different aspects of the game unfold gradually, you can make it go viral.

For example, uncovering different types of information for an event or mission gives people the incentive to want to keep playing until they can piece everything together. The power of completing a set of actions and visualising this through leaderboards is a very successful marketing tool in gaming. However, you do also need to let scenarios run instantly and interactively, not just describe the scenario.

Developing different levels for a game requires specialist skills and software – known as “level design”. So why not focus on scripting the instructions and steps of the game with the people that are going to benefit from it (either staff or the public) before commissioning a games developer?

PS. Do you use the SMOG readability test? This article has a readability of 14 so you'll only get what I'm saying if you've at least been at college or read the New York Times...apparently.

Have you used or developed games yourself? How have you used them and for why? What have I missed out?

Noel Hatch

This is Not a Game

Big Papers Producing Personal News

* Thank you to swamysk for photo (top left: elderly man washing car) published on Flickr under Creative Commons licence, some rights reservedNoncommercialNo Derivative Works.
* Thank you to SlipStreamJC for photo (middle left: a DS games console) published on Flickr under Creative Commons licence, some rights reservedNoncommercialNo Derivative Works. Don't Let Your Mind Die