Got game? (says Harvard Business Review)

Exciting news of a book that confirms many of the Play Ethic's theses. Got Game: How the Gamer Generation Is Reshaping Business Forever is a study of how the 'soulitarian' generation, and particularly those who've grown up with video games, will shape the way that organisations are formed and led over the next few years. From the blurb:

Think video games are kids' stuff? Think again. Provocative new data show that video games have created a new generation of employees and executives--bigger than the baby boom--that will dramatically transform the workplace. And according to strategists John C. Beck and Mitchell Wade, managers who understand and harness this generation's distinct attributes can leap far ahead of their competition. Got Game shows how growing up immersed in video games has profoundly shaped the attitudes and abilities of this new generation. Though little-noticed, these 90 million rising professionals, through sheer numbers, will inevitably dominate business--and are already changing the rules. Although many of these changes are positive--such as more open communication and creative problem solving--they have caused a generation gap that frustrates gamers and the boomers who manage them. Got Game identifies the distinct values and traits that define the gamer generation--from an increased appetite for risk to unexpected leadership skills--and reveals management techniques today's leaders can use to bridge the generation gap and unleash gamers' hidden potential.

Here's an extract, and here's what Tom Peters could blog from the original FT review:

"Perhaps surprisingly [the authors] found no evidence of short attention spans. Far from it. Avid gamers have the ability to spend hours, days, or even weeks in single-minded pursuit of an objective. Nor did they find violent tendencies. They argue that behind the hyperviolent veneer, most video games are actually sophisticated simulations that reward perseverance and learning-by-doing. The result is a generation that can seem like 'arrogant slackers' at first but are in fact highly motivated—if given the opportunity to develop and play a starring role in their own projects."—FT

Now, go read McKenzie Wark's A Hacker Manifesto (on Harvard University Press, funny enough). Can you smell the cordite of the new class war? Or, er, not?