Some useful lessons from the gaming world

leisure.
The top lists are dominated by games; from Angry Birds to Lair Defence, there are whole realms populated with a menagerie of pigs, zombies and dragons to be conquered and dominated.
With the advent of Wifi and 3G networks the ability to download and play games is within the reach of the many Zimbabweans who love their smartphones.
The digital gaming industry is a massive business with games like World of Warcraft having hundreds of millions of dollars in turnover.
The variety of games on offer is testament to human creativity in finding ways to waste our time.
Some games offer brain challenges, others offer interaction with other humans whom you can team up with or pit your wits against.
Whatever genres you end up playing, successful games have one thing in common — they are ridiculously addictive.
While our minds need a regular break from the chaos of thought that can go with running a company, remember not to get too sucked into the gaming realm.
The challenges can be stimulating and fun but they should not interfere with the rest of our lives. With that little warning out of the way I thought it would be fun to take a few lessons from the gaming world and apply them to business and life in general.
Top of the list is that there is no “SAVE” button to your life. When gaming the temptation is to save often then go back and replay a scene over and over until you get the desired outcome.
Try playing an entire game without saving once, live with the consequences of your mistakes. That is life, you cannot replay the time you have lost, you cannot undo the words you have said. Mistakes cannot be erased, only compensated for.
That said, many small application games operate on a level unlock system. You have to replay a level again and again and again before you can move on. Certain scenarios in life lend themselves to restarting-lost a business; restart. Your first book didn’t publish; write another one. Learn from failure and move on. If you keep making the same mistake again and again perhaps you should re-look at the way you are doing things.
A lot of games offer a free demo version
While they are designed to try to sucker you in to buying the full version by leaving you hanging at a crucial point, demos are there for a reason — they allow you to see if you will truly enjoy something before spending money on it.
Try something first before you make a major commitment. This “half-step” method allows you to avoid some of the pitfalls as you embark on a new era for your company.
Live in a country for a fortnight before you move there and not in a hotel, in a home where you can see the dilemmas of shopping and transport. Visit the area you are relocating your business to and walk around it, get a feel for the area; how easy it is to park and navigate, how many beggars are living around the corner.
Spend a few days shadowing someone before you pick a profession. Businesses operate trial stores where they can make and monitor changes before rolling them out into the entire franchise. Market research and testing falls into this category.
Know your strengths and weaknesses
Know the strengths and weaknesses of your opponents. Develop strategies accordingly. In games you learn when to use the shotgun, grenade, or knife depending on what is coming your way (Zombie Wars fans know what I’m talking about).
Recognise patterns in business and adapt accordingly. When are your quiet periods? How do the school holidays affect your clientele and business volumes? What can be done to make the most of busy periods and to improve the slower ones?
These are simple and possibly obvious questions, but you will be surprised how often they get ignored. Look around and you will see how many businesses find themselves in the same dilemma year after year when the bottom falls out of the market at the same time each year-and yet they fail to recognise it as an annual trend.
More experienced companies already know when they will begin planning for the Christmas rush.
At the end of the day remember it is only a game. I’ve seen people get all pent up and explode in the gaming equivalent of road rage.
Relax, learn not to sweat about things that really are not as important as you may think. Lighten up a little and have fun while you work, by that I mean make your job enjoyable and not by playing Angry Birds when you should be finalising that contract you are working on.