The business lessons of 'World of Warcraft'
AUSTIN, Texas--"World of Warcraft" is a game. There's no doubt aboutit. More than 6 million people around the world have signed up to goquesting, kill beasts, search out loot, and have fun with friends andstrangers alike.
But Joi Ito, a venture capitalist, blogger and longtime game playerfrom Japan, thinks WoW is also a valuable business tool that can beused to help companies learn how to work better. That was the takeawayfrom his talk at the ScreenBurn beta festival, an adjunct group ofpresentations at the South by Southwest conference here.
And Ito should know about WoW and business. After all, he runs a guildthat is chock full of C-level executives, venture capitalists, A-listbloggers and many of his employees. And when he and his cohorts arenot marauding, they are often talking about work.
In any case, he thinks WoW can teach companies a lot about how tomanage employees, though the lessons might not be things a lot ofbusinesses are ready to hear.
After all, much of what he talked about had to do with realizing thatpeople often do unpleasant tasks in the workplace only because theyhave to. Of course, that's no surprise, since that's the nature of ajob: We work for pay, and do what our bosses tell us.
But Ito's point is that employers would do well to see that they cankeep employees happy by being respectful to them and encouraging anenvironment in which people work together and chase common goalswithout autocratic leaders belligerently laying down arbitrary groundrules.
At least, he explained, that method isn't very successful in WoW,where guild leaders trying to organize 30 or 40 people for raids haveto recognize that if their charges aren't happy, they'll just leave.
And of course, WoW is not a job, but Ito thinks that the nature of thegame, which largely forces people to work together to get many thingsdone, has enough parallels when it comes to groups solving problemsthat businesses should pay attention.
Anyway, it would be easy to dismiss Ito's arguments as fantasy, butthis is a guy who has achieved a lot in business, and who is seen as athought leader. So bosses out there: Maybe it's time to encourage yourcompanies to consider letting workers spend part of their day asmages, chasing orcs and living inside a virtual world.
Their work might be better for it.
Posted by Daniel Terdiman
Date: March 12, 2006 9:50 AM PST
But Joi Ito, a venture capitalist, blogger and longtime game playerfrom Japan, thinks WoW is also a valuable business tool that can beused to help companies learn how to work better. That was the takeawayfrom his talk at the ScreenBurn beta festival, an adjunct group ofpresentations at the South by Southwest conference here.
And Ito should know about WoW and business. After all, he runs a guildthat is chock full of C-level executives, venture capitalists, A-listbloggers and many of his employees. And when he and his cohorts arenot marauding, they are often talking about work.
In any case, he thinks WoW can teach companies a lot about how tomanage employees, though the lessons might not be things a lot ofbusinesses are ready to hear.
After all, much of what he talked about had to do with realizing thatpeople often do unpleasant tasks in the workplace only because theyhave to. Of course, that's no surprise, since that's the nature of ajob: We work for pay, and do what our bosses tell us.
But Ito's point is that employers would do well to see that they cankeep employees happy by being respectful to them and encouraging anenvironment in which people work together and chase common goalswithout autocratic leaders belligerently laying down arbitrary groundrules.
At least, he explained, that method isn't very successful in WoW,where guild leaders trying to organize 30 or 40 people for raids haveto recognize that if their charges aren't happy, they'll just leave.
And of course, WoW is not a job, but Ito thinks that the nature of thegame, which largely forces people to work together to get many thingsdone, has enough parallels when it comes to groups solving problemsthat businesses should pay attention.
Anyway, it would be easy to dismiss Ito's arguments as fantasy, butthis is a guy who has achieved a lot in business, and who is seen as athought leader. So bosses out there: Maybe it's time to encourage yourcompanies to consider letting workers spend part of their day asmages, chasing orcs and living inside a virtual world.
Their work might be better for it.
Posted by Daniel Terdiman
Date: March 12, 2006 9:50 AM PST
posted by Zumrowi Yunus at 9:08 PM
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