Andrzej Marczewski

Gamification Expert, author, consultant and designer. I love to write about it, talk about it and bore people to death with it! If you really want to get to know me, check out the About page.

Mary Poppins was full of crap

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MP151 Mary Poppins was full of crap

Ok, this has been bugging me for years. In Gamification, there are many things you hear again and again. It’s not about games, points are bad, intrinsic motivation is king. There are more, but the one I have an issue is a quote from that most famous of nannies (and most irresponsible in my mind) , Mary Poppins:

In every job that must be done, there is an element of fun. You find the fun and ‘snap’, the job’s a game.

This is where I cry “Bullshit!”

At the point she is singing this, she is trying to convince the miserable children she is looking after to do some tidying. Rather than creating a game of the chore, she uses magic to make stuff fly around and put themselves away. Read More ...

Bribes, Incentives, Bonuses, Awards and Rewards in Gamification

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Recently there has been some conversation in the Gamification Hub and other areas about the difference between things like bribes, incentives and so on.

It is actually an interesting and very relevant question in gamification circles as they all get mentioned from time to time, so I thought I would tackle it a little here.

First, let’s look at the standard definitions (from http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/).

  • Bribe:
    • Dishonestly persuade (someone) to act in one’s favour by a gift of money or other inducement.
    Incentive:
    • A thing that motivates or encourages someone to do something
    • A payment or concession to stimulate greater output or investment.
    Bonus:
    •  A sum of money added to a person’s wages as a reward for good performance.  
    Award:
    • Give or order the giving of (something) as an official payment, compensation, or prize to (someone).
    Reward:
    • A thing given in recognition of service, effort, or achievement

    The first thing that strikes me is how similar bribe and incentive are in meaning. The only real difference is the intent of the person who is offering up the “something” to persuade the receiver to do an activity. Read More ...

Accenture makes a move I was talking about in 2013

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So a big bit of news in the consulting world is that Accenture has got rid of its annual performance reviews and rankings. This has had some level of fanfare as innovative and exciting. They of course are not alone. Deloitte is looking at doing the same thing and as the article says about 6% of the Fortune 500 have already done it.

Have a read for yourself. http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/on-leadership/wp/2015/07/21/in-big-move-accenture-will-get-rid-of-annual-performance-reviews-and-rankings/ Read More ...

A week of memes

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For some strange reason I have become obsessed with making memes recently! It may just be I have a  couple of apps on the phone that make it easy now. Whatever the reasons, I thought I would share my last week or so of memes here with you guys. Also, I have not had a chance to write a real blog. Oh, before we go there though – the book has a title (I think)

Even Ninja Monkeys Like to Play

Gamification, Game Thinking and Motivational Design

Now on to the memes!

4 Ways Extrinsic rewards bit me in the ass

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Not long ago I wrote about my daughters school and their usage of certificates to incentivise reading. The idea is that if a child reads a certain amount each half term, they can get a bronze, silver or gold certificate.

As you may remember, I have spent a lot of time trying to encourage my daughter to read. I thought I had cracked it after long gamified engagement. Little did I know, that in the background the school was undoing all my (and my wife’s) hard work.

Olivia has consistently got Gold awards for her reading, we have ensured that every school night for the entire school year she has read. Two weeks ago, she missed two days. This did not seem like that big a deal, two days in an entire year should not mean much in the long run. Read More ...

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