Gaming skills and the workplace

GAME CHANGERS GAMING SKILLS AND THE WORKPLACE FLEXIBILITY AND ADAPTABILITY Literacy Link South Central Flexibility and Adaptability: Participant Playbook Flexibility and Adaptability: Participant Playbook This participant playbook is part of a series created for the course “Game Changers: Gaming Skills and the Workplace.” Built in a modular fashion to allow for maximum flexibility, this course provides training on real-world skills that can be developed and practiced in a gamebased environment Using a combination of facilitated lessons, activities, research, and games, this course will help teach a new generation of job seekers the 21st Century soft skills critical to Canadian employers Modules in this course include: Why Gaming is Good Verbal Communication Non-verbal Communication Observation Skills Decision Making Problem Solving Teamwork Flexibility and Adaptability Work Ethic 10 Conflict Resolution 11 Resiliency 12 Who Do You Think You Are? 13 The Employment Game 14 Leveling Up A Youth Advisory Committee played a key role in the development of this course Literacy Link South Central offers thanks to committee members Cassandra Smith, Colin Todkill, Eleyas Araya, Eric Rice, Jamie Kaill and Taisha Jenee Pinsonneault for their input and guidance Gaming recommendations for this project were provided by our advisors at Teleos Engagement Literacy Link South Central recognizes Gabriel Hancock, Robert Durant and Shayne Ganness and thanks them for sharing their in-depth knowledge of game design and development This curriculum was developed and formatted by Summer Burton, Project Manager, Literacy Link South Central For questions about this curriculum, please contact Literacy Link South Central at 519-681-7307 or literacylink@llsc.on.ca Literacy Link South Central is pleased to provide this course through the support of the Royal Bank of Canada’s Future Launch fund Flexibility and Adaptability: Participant Playbook Agenda: The Only Constant is Change 10 Ways to Cope With Big Changes What if change was the only rule? Flexing Your Adaptability Muscles Red Selecting the next session’s topic Wrap-up and take-away Flexibility and Adaptability: Participant Playbook The Only Constant is Change Things around us are changing – and changing fast – in lots of different ways What are some of the changes that have happened recently that impact us and our local community? How have you seen people adapting to those changes? _ What sort of changes you think you’ll need to adapt to in your lifetime? _ Flexibility and Adaptability: Participant Playbook 10 Ways to Cope With Big Changes Read the article “10 Ways to Cope with Big Changes” and answer the questions below Moving past denial and saying to yourself, "Things are changing, and it is okay" can be less stressful than putting it off  True  False It’s important to realize that even _ changes can cause stress The more change that is happening, the more important it is to have some things that stay the same, like walking the dog every morning at am This is referred to as an: What is the name of the brain chemical that can get depleted when you undergo change and as a result, feel stress? What’s one way to help us stop binging on carbs or relying on other substances during times of stress? Exercising _ has been found to significantly decrease symptoms of depression Flexibility and Adaptability: Participant Playbook No one gets through life alone It is okay to What sort of positive things may have happened as a result of a big change? _ What does being proactive mean? _ What is one question you can ask to help focus on something other than venting? _ Two good tips for using social media when you’re going through a big change are to: Make sure you are in a _ when you post—and keep in mind that whatever you post never really _ If you are comparing your life to your friends' lives on social media, remember that most people post only the " " of their lives, not the _ moments Final tips from this article include: People make _ It's _ from them that really counts Make a point to incorporate more laughter and fun into your life Laughing increases _, _, and _ Laughing also decreases _ a stress-producing hormone Flexibility and Adaptability: Participant Playbook What if change was the only rule? When someone wants to become more physically flexible, they stretch – and that’s exactly what it can take to become more mentally flexible We need to stretch the boundaries of what we’re comfortable with now, so they can stretch more naturally in the future To help us stretch, we’re going to play a game called Nomic It’s not a traditional game – there’s no game board, no cards and no pieces, just your brains, and a set of die The rules are simple, and focus mainly on how players go about changing those rules beginning with a system of democratic voting In the game of Nomic, changing the rules isn’t just a move – it’s the only move Review the rules of Nomic on the next page, and play it as a group As you play, think about the following questions: How the constantly changing rules make you feel? Do you find those changes exciting, or frustrating? What rule change had the biggest impact on the game? Flexibility and Adaptability: Participant Playbook The Rules of Nomic Play begins with the person whose first name begins with the letter closest to the end of the alphabet Play proceeds clockwise On each turn, players can propose:  a new rule  a change to one of the active rules  that an active rule be removed The rest of the players vote to either accept or deny the proposal If more than half of the players vote for the proposal to be accepted, it goes into effect immediately If more than half of the players vote for the change to be denied, the proposal is disregarded and the proposing players turn is over All players begin with points Any player whose proposal is accepted rolls die and adds the total of their roll to their score Any player whose proposal is denied rolls die and subtracts the number they roll from their score The secretary is responsible for adding, editing, or removing rules from the initial set of rules as the game progresses 10 If rules are changed so they directly contradict one another, whichever rule was in place first takes precedence 11 The game ends if any player reaches 50 points 12 If the rules are changed to the point that play can no longer proceed, the last player who made a proposal that was accepted is declared the winner Two rules of Nomic cannot be changed, and are therefore not included in the list of rules above The first is that all players must follow all active rules for the duration of the game The second is that no rule can be passed that removes players from the game Flexibility and Adaptability: Participant Playbook Flexing Your Adaptability Muscles When people use the word “flexibility,” what are they usually referring to? What is the dictionary definition? When you think about flexibility in terms of behaviour, how would you describe it? Another word we’ve used a few times today is adaptability It’s related to flexibility, but isn’t quite the same How would you define adaptability? What is the dictionary definition? Flexibility has to with your actions, while adaptability has to with your reactions 10 Flexibility and Adaptability: Participant Playbook Adaptability Self-Assessment This self-assessment will look at both how you act in the face of change, and how you cope when changes happen Read each of the following 31 statements carefully, and then consider whether you agree or disagree that it sounds like you For some of the statements, you may fall somewhere in the middle – you think the statement is true sometimes but not others Put a checkmark in the box that you think is the closest to your real reaction or behaviour Disagree Sometimes Agree Score I’m habit-driven, and prefer the comfort of visiting people and places I already know I get worried when changes happen and anticipate that the change will be hard to handle I get frustrated when I have to change my plans I see change as an opportunity and look for ways to take advantage of it I look at things from different points of view before making a decision I expect something good to come from change and look for the positive in it as a result I’ve learned what I need to my job, and don’t need to more than that I take classes that I don’t have to, just to learn new things I’m interested in moving up to a better job with more responsibilities 10 I’m comfortable with rearranging my schedule when new things come up 11 I don’t have a lot of confidence in my ability to make decisions 12 I’m excited to learn about other cultures and how they are different than me 13 If I’m planning something that will have an impact on other people, I’ll ask for their input 11 Flexibility and Adaptability: Participant Playbook 14 I’m generally optimistic 15 I have a hard time letting go of past mistakes 16 I’m an “early adopter” of new technology and want to try the latest gadgets 17 I know how to use the technology I have and won’t upgrade it unless I have to 18 If I’m in charge, then others can follow my lead whether they agree with what I’m doing or not 19 I can admit my mistakes, learn from them, and move on 20 I help other people figure out how changes will impact them 21 I recognize my weaknesses and work to improve 22 When things go wrong, it’s rarely my fault 23 I find talking to people who think differently than I really interesting 24 I’m a “glass half empty” kind of person 25 I usually have a “plan b” in mind just in case my first idea doesn’t work out 26 I believe there are lots of ways to accomplish the same task 27 I’d like to spend some time living in another country with a really different culture 28 If something I try fails, it really throws me off 29 I prefer working with people who share my background and beliefs 30 I believe “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” 31 When people express an opinion I don’t agree with, I try to convince them they’re wrong Total 12 Flexibility and Adaptability: Participant Playbook Where you fall on the scale? Mark your score on the arrow 100 We can’t control the world around us and that changes are going to happen whether we like them or not We can control of our own responses and behaviours when changes happen, and work towards building the skills we need to handle them well These 10 Tips for increasing our flexibility and adaptability can help Build , which is the ability to recover from or adjust easily to misfortune or change Be _ with ourselves about our reaction to change now Being clear about where we start gives us the opportunity to set goals for these muscles we want to stretch, and see progress as we go Don’t let become a barrier Be , ask questions, learn new things What are some ways you can that? 13 Flexibility and Adaptability: Participant Playbook your boundaries – get out of your comfort zone and stretch a bit Tip: start practicing with ‘low stakes’ situations, like changing your route to work, trying new foods, or listening to music in a genre you normally don’t Practice your _ skills Brainstorming possible solutions is a great way to practice that skill Find at least one that could come from every change Write down it down and as the change happens, see what you can to make it a reality Be Being aware of what’s going on around you can help you anticipate possible changes and start thinking about how you could react or respond Can you think of a time when something changed, and in retrospect you thought “I should have seen that coming”? Find a who is flexible or good at adapting to change already, and talk to them 10 _ others deal with or adjust to change There’s no better way to reinforce your understanding of something than to try and explain it to other people Remember what we said about flexibility – it’s the ability to bend without breaking And one of the only ways to that is to stretch using techniques like these 14 Flexibility and Adaptability: Participant Playbook Red To win the card game “Red 7,” you must have the winning hand every time you take a turn – if you don’t, you’re out of the game To make sure you don’t lose, you’ll need to change the rules of the game as you go! What rules can you use? The Red rules: the player with the highest card wins The Orange rules: the player with the most of the same number wins The Yellow rules: the player with the most cards of a single colour wins The Green rules: the player with the most even cards wins The Blue rules: the player with the most different colours wins The Indigo rules: the player with the longest run (ex 3, 4, and 6) wins The Violet rules: the player with the most cards valued 1, or wins Listen as the rules of the game are explained, and prepare to change the rules, and react to change as play progresses Note: This is a competitive game that can be played by between and people If you don’t play the game, be sure to watch carefully and make notes below about what you saw Your facilitator will ask you to share your observations after the game _ Question: Did you find all the changes hard to follow, or exciting and engaging? What was the hardest part, and why? How quickly did you have to change strategies in the game because of a change in rules? 15 Flexibility and Adaptability: Participant Playbook Selecting the next session’s topic We will be discussing another skill from the list during our next session Each of these skills can be developed and practiced in a gaming environment, and are important not only in games, but in a non-gaming environment Verbal communication Non-verbal communication Observation skills Decision making Problem solving Teamwork Flexibility and adaptability Work ethic Conflict resolution 10 Resiliency Which skill should we look at next? Participate in the poll to let your workshop facilitator know 16 Flexibility and Adaptability: Participant Playbook Wrap-up and take-away In today’s session we talked a lot about handling changes, especially when they cause stress Pick one of the techniques suggested in the article “10 Ways to Cope with Big Changes” and practice it between now and the next session Record your chosen technique below – your facilitator will be asking about this at the start of the next session The technique I chose is: _ Make a note of what you noticed when practicing this technique below: Reminder: record the date and time of our next session below The next session is: _ at 17