Is GAMIFICATION the Future of Innovation? w moderator @GrahamHill

This house believes that GAMIFICATION – adding game-like characteristics to motivate and reward engagement – is the future of innovation. Graham Hill will lead a discussion of the pros and cons during Innochat on Thursday, May 12.

Here's background from Graham.

For:

It has become standard knowledge that the best innovations originate from a deep understanding of what customers really want. But companies have always struggled to involve customers in innovation. In an attempt to engage customers, companies like Lego, Dell and Starbucks are experimenting with open-innovation through crowdsourcing. But customers are becoming disengaged with crowdsourcing because there is nothing much in it for them. Open innovation has become boring! There has to be a better way. The GAMIFICATION of innovation is that way. By applying the same game mechanics – that work in multi-player games like World of Warcraft – to open innovation, customers will engage in a way that traditional open innovation can only dream of. And as companies like innovation platform provider Spigit have shown, what works for customers works for employees every bit as well.

Further information:

Spigit
Nine Keys to Innovation Management 2.0

http://www.spigit.com/documents/white-papers/

Harvard Business Review
Leadership’s Online Labs

http://21stcenturylearningandleading.edublogs.org/files/2009/06/leaderships-online-labs.pdf

Against:

It has become standard knowledge that the best innovations originate from a deep understanding of what customers really want. But companies have always struggled to involve the RIGHT CUSTOMERS in innovation. Crowdsourcing customer ideas has been held up by companies like Lego, Dell & Starbucks as the way forward. But implementation of the crowd’s ideas is usually less than half a percent, in some cases a lot less. Crowdsourcing ideas is largely a failure, whichever way you look at it. There has to be a better way. Open innovation with EMERGENT CUSTOMERS is that way. Rather than gamify open innovation and make it more enjoyable for the wrong customers to contribute their ideas, it is far better to select the right customers to engage in innovation. Donna Hoffman’s work shows that emergent customers are better at coming up with winning ideas, the ideas are easier to implement and the resulting innovations are far more likely to succeed in the market.

Further information:

Hoffman et al
The Right Consumers for Better Concepts

http://forum.johnson.cornell.edu/faculty/kadiyali/JMR%20emergent%20consu...

Schell

Visions of the Gamepocalypse

http://fora.tv/2010/07/27/Jesse_Schell_Visions_of_the_Gamepocalypse

Questions:

1. Customers are increasingly being harnessed for innovation. From ethnographic studies of customer jobs-to-be-done, through lead-user innovation, all the way to crowdsourcing. What approaches involving customers have you seen work best?

Matching Tweet:

Customers are increasingly being harnessed to drive innovation. What approaches have you seen work best? #innochat

2. Everything is being gamified. From marketing, through loyalty, all the way to innovation. What role do you think gamification should play in innovation, whether with customers, with partners, or with internal staff?

Matching Tweet:

What role do you think gamification should play in innovation, whether with customers, with partners, or with internal staff? #innochat

3. What is the best way to engage customers through gamification? How can you practically use the principles of game mechanics – points, levels, badges, collectibles, leader boards, competitions, etc – to engage customers in effective innovation?

Matching Tweet:

What is the best way to use gamification to engage customers in innovation? Which approaches have you seen work best? #innochat

4. Like all good things that are work, gamification is likely to be overused to make a fast buck. Will there be a backlash against the gamification of innovation? How should companies prepare for it?

Matching Tweet:

Gamification is likely to be overused to make a fast buck. How should you prepare for the inevitable Gameapocalyse? #innochat