by Keith
January 9th, 2013Why should YOU unplug every day? Simple. We spend so much of our lives plugged into networks and computers whether cellphones, computers, or televisions and game consoles that the unplugged time should be a welcome relief. I know it can be easy to get lost in Reddit or YouTube for hours on end watching a stream of interesting or funny content race across the screen, but ask yourself...when was that YouTube video or cat meme as rewarding as the time spent with a physical copy of a game? When was chatting, or posting in a discussion forum as rewarding as the time spent discussing your favorite game with someone face-to-face?
I know a lot of IT folks are drawn to boardgaming because it's such a powerful outlet for an often unsocial and plugged in career. Whether your managing people in IT or coding, or repairing there's an isolation and numbness that comes with the job. Some people thrive with this, but others, like myself, really crave the human connection that's required with an offline game.
I'm sure you've had these similar thoughts at one point or another as well. I know a lot of game groups discuss this as why or how they got into boardgaming as a hobby.
My other interest in it comes from a standpoint of intellectual growth. So much of my career, and I suspect others, is problem-solving. When you're given a specific toolset you often approach the problems you encounter with those tools in mind rather than taking a broader approach to problem-solving. What can boardgames teach us about this that perhaps Wii Bowling cannot?
Every game is a puzzle of some sort.
Whether you're playing Apples to Apples and trying to make you friends laugh, or you're facing them down across the board in a tense game of Hansa Teutonica there's nothing like trying to solve the puzzle. Often, games that require bidding Le Havre can lead to a greater understanding of value puzzles and how to shape or reshape value. It's this combination of puzzles and solutions that drives a different kind of thinking and approach to problem-solving that I feel boardgaming provides best.
Understand People.
So many careers today have removed the mechanical only aspects of the job for ones that are more service oriented. Whether you're supporting students, customers, or arranging sales contracts with other accounting departments it's all part of a larger human connection. Gaining the upper hand in these situations is often desirable so you can shape your business to suit your needs (or your organization's) better. After all, aren't all interactions a negotiation of some sort?
Boardgames help provide a positive and real-world practice for these kinds of scenarios. Whether or not you like it ... when you're figuring out how to deal with the biggest threat in your melee game of A Game of Thrones: The Card Game or you're striking up alliances in The Werewolves of Miller's Hollow you're building practical knowledge about strategies for dealing with people. They may be contextual to your current situation, but they are always informative if you allow yourself to learn from them.
Reaction under Pressure
How will you react under pressure? I think most people have been asked to do more with less over the last decade. The time of expanding budgets and personnel is over. If a company can run lean ... they're going to do it as long as possible. Many folks reading this may be in a situation where they're doing the job that two or more people used to do...and doing it well!
Boardgames help us build confidence under pressure. I know wargames are particularly well suited for this because there is just so much going on at any given moment that it can be hard to focus. When the going gets tough, you can learn a lot from how you and your opponent react. In Advanced Squad Leader, I've seen people fold well before they had lost and I've seen people hang on to the bitter end because they know they can pull it out with a few good rolls. Likewise, the person that I love to watch is the player that gets REALLY behind in Risk or Diplomacy and then pulls out a come from behind victory based on their negotiation skills and tireless efforts to win regardless of the position they're in at their lowest point.
You might call that perseverance rather than performing under stress, but isn't perseverance just a positive reaction to stress. After all ... do we say the winning team in a blowout baseball game persevered to the end for a victory? Absolutely not! You need to be on the rocks, backs against the water to really dig in and persevere.
Sportsmanship
As much as we'd all love to win every time ... There's value in putting whatever you're facing into prospective. When I was first starting my career, it was really easy to get indignant about individual choices in a given day or week. I didn't have the perspective to look at the big picture and put context around what was happening.
In gaming, we all try to fight for our side as best we can. We want to play the game and have fun. When we win...it feels great. When we lose...not as much. However, we ALL want to smile and walk away from that table as friends or gaming buddies.
In business, it can be hard to walk away from the negotiation table as buddies. However, win or lose, you need to walk away on amenable terms to preserve the relationship. Boardgaming helps reinforce those skills and allows you to practice taking the sting out of a nasty loss or to help empathize with the person on the other side of the table.
Video-games, TV, the internet, and our cellphones rarely offer these meaningful opportunities to break away from the digital noise we consume and produce every day. Boardgames and positive gaming experiences offer opportunities to have a great time, while honing skills that we need both for success in gaming and in life or careers.
So...please take time every day to unplug if only to hug your loved ones.