There is a lot that occurs in online gaming that carries over to the way we go about leading our teams and developing strategy to achieve key goals.
This morning I read an article, Halo can make you a Better Teammate at Work
Or: A Maturity Model for Halo Teams
, in which Teague Hopkins describes a ladder of evolution for the maturity of online gaming teams. The lowest levels consist of the random group in which individual players are likely to be more focused on individual stats. The higher rungs move toward the focused group which has practiced and each member can anticipate moves, and reposition to support coordinated action, and can make concise calls and report on the situation using operational language.
The analogy isn't exact to most work environments, which feel a lot more like an open-ended game than Halo. Halo provides clear objectives and time-limits which are well understood by the time yiu have played a fee rounds. Whereas in the work environment, objectives and timeframes have to be decided and updated periodically based on an assessment of what is urgent and important.
The inexactness of the analogy represents an opportunity to talk about ways a team or a business can approach breaking down their long goals into clear objectives with time-limits. Being able to envision the goal will bring the target closer to the mind of the team members pursuing the goal, which makes it more likely that the team will be able to achieve its objective.