Monthly Newsletter
Your Next Move!
Hello Innovation Gamer,
Welcome to the August issue of Your Next Move, our monthly newsletter covering the latest news,
events and announcements from the Innovation Games® community.
Table of Contents
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
IG at Work: LexisNexis Sales Kickoff
Latest from Luke: IG Takes Agile 2010 by Storm
Vote for Our SxSW Panel!
IG Tips & Tricks: Pricing for Buy a Feature
Market Research Requires Segmentation
IG in the News: 100 Best Books at Agile 2010
IG in the News: Work Can Be Fun!
New Class: CSPO with Innovation Games®
Guest Blogger: Ryan Peel's 8 Steps to Facilitating Online Games
More Friday Games: Play a Game or Be a Featured Facilitator
IG Around the World: Upcoming Events
IG at Work
LexisNexis Senior Sales Team Uses Innovation Games® to Create
Actionable Proposals
LexisNexis used Innovation Games® at a recent Senior Management Sales Kickoff in London to help
nearly 150 sales executives improve their ability to create concrete, actionable proposals that effectively
communicate the value proposition of the LexisNexis offering.
Building on prior training that emphasized understanding a customer's workflow, LexisNexis wanted to
shift its sales team from the traditional model of 'selling' services, into a true collaborative sales model
where account professionals worked with customers to jointly develop the solutions that their
customers really wanted. The sales team found the games a perfect fit, as they played several
Innovation Games® based on relevant case studies and actively participated in a spirited Q&A session
on how the games can be integrated into their practice.
To learn more about how the games can help your sales teams sell bigger deals, faster, email us at
[email protected].
Innovation (Games!) Everywhere
IG takes Agile 2010 by Storm
It has been a week since Agile 2010, and this post feels long overdue. Yet, I'm finding that spending a
week catching up on work, including a special project with Lowell Lindstrom to conduct an Agile 2010
conference retrospective using Innovation Games®, has given me a rare chance to gain a sharper
perspective on the conference. And it is now abundantly clear: Innovation Games® (and other forms of
serious games) have moved from Innovators / Technology Enthusiasts and is now squarely into Early
Adopters -- and this is an exciting place to be.
First, let's step back and make sure everyone knows what I'm talking about. While the technology
adoption lifecycle has been studied for decades, it was really popularized by Geoffrey Moore's excellent
book Crossing the Chasm. Simplifying quite a bit, and picking one of the hundreds of images available
on the Internet, the technology adoption curve -- and the chasm that Geoffrey talks about -- looks like
the image here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Technology-Adoption-Lifecycle.png.
Of course, Moore's book was focused on the big chasm that exists between the Early Adopters and the
Early Majority. And, I think that time has proven that Moore's insights were spot-on, and the advice in
his book have helped countless numbers of entrepreneurs. While I look forward to celebrating the day
when Innovation Games® has crossed the chasm, right now I'm very content to realize that the games
have managed to get across the first gap in the curve: the gap between Innovators / Technology
Enthusiasts and Early Adopters.
As Moore points out, crossing this first gap is not trivial. It requires that visionary early adopters see the
potential for an 'order-of-magnitude' improvement in solving a previously unsolved problem. In our
case, our early adopter/visionary customers are finding the games are helping them solve key problems
in a number of different areas. To illustrate what I mean, consider how some of the visionaries in the
agile community are using, or recommending, the games:
•
•
Alistair Cockburn recommended Buy a Feature to help teams prioritize their backlog.
Forrester's Tom Grant played Prune the Product Tree Online during his session at Agile 2010 to
help people playing the role of Product Manager / Product Owner gain a deeper understanding
of the needs of different stakeholders.
•
Cory Foy, from Net Objectives, played Speed Boat in his session to help illustrate the challenges
with distributed teams.
•
Michele Sliger played the Team Estimation game, a specially-tailored version of Buy a Feature
that helps teams manage their commitments.
•
Michael Sahota from Agilitrix and Gino Marckx included Buy a Feature and Speed Boat in their
session at Agile 2010.
•
Cory Foy and I played Prune the Product Tree and debuted a new game, My Worst Nightmare, at
our session.
And this doesn't even count the many trained facilitators at the Agile 2010 conference, or the number
of people who stopped me to share their stories about using the games to solve hard problems.
Want to read more? Click here.
Vote for Us
Help our Panel 'Business at Play' Win a Spot at SxSW
There's no question that the nature of work is changing. At The Innovation Games® Company, we
believe that serious play and the use of games can enable organizations to better collaborate and reach
decisions together more efficiently, with less ambiguity and greater clarity that ever before. And we're
•
Cory Foy, from Net Objectives, played Speed Boat in his session to help illustrate the challenges
with distributed teams.
•
Michele Sliger played the Team Estimation game, a specially-tailored version of Buy a Feature
that helps teams manage their commitments.
•
Michael Sahota from Agilitrix and Gino Marckx included Buy a Feature and Speed Boat in their
session at Agile 2010.
•
Cory Foy and I played Prune the Product Tree and debuted a new game, My Worst Nightmare, at
our session.
And this doesn't even count the many trained facilitators at the Agile 2010 conference, or the number
of people who stopped me to share their stories about using the games to solve hard problems.
Want to read more? Click here.
Vote for Us
Help our Panel 'Business at Play' Win a Spot at SxSW
There's no question that the nature of work is changing. At The Innovation Games® Company, we
believe that serious play and the use of games can enable organizations to better collaborate and reach
decisions together more efficiently, with less ambiguity and greater clarity that ever before. And we're
not alone. Serious games, game mechanics and game play are increasingly important to the business
world. Games are used as narrative engines for brands and organizations. There are also games at work
in market research, sales, strategy and product development. And companies like GameChangers,
XPlane, Bright I.D. and -- yes -- The Innovation Games® Company are spreading the gospel.
Because we believe so powerfully in the potential that serious play has for transforming work,
GameStorming authors Sunni Brown, Dave Gray and James Macanufo, along with Mike Bonnifer (of
GameChangers) and myself have joined forces and submitted a panel for SxSW 2011. The panel is
entitled 'Business at Play', and we could use your help to be selected. SxSW is a community-driven
event and votes from people like you account for 30% of the voting process.
To make your voice heard (and hopefully help us win a spot on the schedule), go to: http://
panelpicker.sxsw.com/ideas/view/7216
IG Tips & Tricks
Perfect Pricing for Buy a Feature Online
One of the essential activities when designing a Buy a Feature game is pricing the items within the
game. The goal is to develop a pricing scheme that helps you gain insight into your customers' true
motivations, and Innovation Games Online makes it easy for you to play around with a variety of
pricing schemes to determine which one works best.
This month, as part of our growing library of tips and techniques, I've covered, in detail:
•
Simple pricing, when every item is the same price
•
Pricing based on shirt sizes
•
Complex pricing schemes
To access this information, simply log in to Innovation Games Online and select "How to Price Buy a
Feature Items" from the Help Me pull-down menu on the right-hand side of the page.
Market Research Requires Segmentation
Luke Hohmann and OpenView: Helping Early Stage Companies
Master Market Segmentation
I'm fascinated by what people think about market segmentation for startups and early stage growth
companies. I've find that some people think that market segmentation is a mythical business school
concept, something that you're taught but not something that you do. Others think market
segmentation is great if you're one of the Nikes or Coca-Colas or 3Ms of the world, but not something
that's suitable for startups. Perhaps my favorite misperception about market segmentation is that it is a
convoluted, mystical process that devours a company's time and resources and that produces, at best,
a few personas.
Of course, none of these perceptions are true. At its core, market segmentation is a fairly basic and
practical approach to solving some pretty complex problems. It is essential to the success of the
business. And yes, you do have to to work hard to create actionable market segments. But the effort is
worth it.
In early 2010, I held a workshop on Market Segmentation for OpenView's portfolio companies, where
I've been a strategic advisor since 2009. While this workshop was commissioned by OpenView for the
special needs of their portfolio companies, our approach has broad applicability. And, because our
research techniques and market segmentation processes include Innovation Games®, the process tends
to be more effective than traditional approaches. To read more about the workshop, and learn more
about market segmentation and how it can improve market research and company success, click here.
IG in the News
100 Best Books for Agile Development
Jurgen Appelo recently published his latest book list, the 100 Best Books for Agile Development, on his
blog NOOP.NL, and we're thrilled that Innovation Games®: Creating Breakthrough Products through
Collaborative Play made the list at #80 -- especially since Jurgen's complex rating system included
nudity (OK, so he was joking). But wait, the best part is that six of our Innovation Games Trained
Facilitators also have books in the list, which includes such classic tomes on agile software
development as Erik Evan's Domain Driven Design, Mike Cohn's Agile Estimating and Planning and
Uncle Bob's Clean Code.
Here are the books penned by members of the Innovation Games community, along with their ranking:
•
#35 Requirements by Collaboration, Ellen Gottesdiener
•
•
#55 Beyond Software Architecture: Creating and Sustaining Winning Solutions, Luke Hohmann
#71 Coaching Agile Teams: A Companion for ScrumMasters, Agile Coaches and Project Managers
•
in Transition, Lyssa Adkins
#74 Agile Game Development with Scrum, Clinton Keith
•
#80 Innovation Games®: Creating Breakthrough Products Through Collaborative Play, Luke
Hohmann
•
•
#83 The Software Project Manager's Bridge to Agility, Michele Sliger and Stacia Broderick
#85 The Enterprise Unified Process: Extending the Rational Unified Process, Michael J. Vizdos
(co-author with Scott W. Ambler and John Nalbone)
For the complete list, go to http://www.noop.nl/2010/08/top-100-agile-books.html.
IG in the News
TechTarget's Yvette Francino Asks, 'Who Says Work Can't Be Fun?'
In this blog entry, TechTarget's Yvette Francino writes about her experience attending Luke Hohmann
Here are the books penned by members of the Innovation Games community, along with their ranking:
•
#35 Requirements by Collaboration, Ellen Gottesdiener
•
•
#55 Beyond Software Architecture: Creating and Sustaining Winning Solutions, Luke Hohmann
#71 Coaching Agile Teams: A Companion for ScrumMasters, Agile Coaches and Project Managers
•
in Transition, Lyssa Adkins
#74 Agile Game Development with Scrum, Clinton Keith
•
#80 Innovation Games®: Creating Breakthrough Products Through Collaborative Play, Luke
Hohmann
•
•
#83 The Software Project Manager's Bridge to Agility, Michele Sliger and Stacia Broderick
#85 The Enterprise Unified Process: Extending the Rational Unified Process, Michael J. Vizdos
(co-author with Scott W. Ambler and John Nalbone)
For the complete list, go to http://www.noop.nl/2010/08/top-100-agile-books.html.
IG in the News
TechTarget's Yvette Francino Asks, 'Who Says Work Can't Be Fun?'
In this blog entry, TechTarget's Yvette Francino writes about her experience attending Luke Hohmann
and Cory Foy's Agile 2010 talk "Life's Not a Beach; It's a Game."
I was one of about 100 people packed into a conference room, attending a workshop entitled, "Life's
not a Beach; It's a Game." The Agile 2010 conference in Orlando, FL, has offered many opportunities
for learning agile, which added elements of fun to the mix. After all, it's in having fun together that we
often build relationships, which will then build stronger teams. Luke Hohmann, CEO and Founder of
The Innovation Games® Company, along with Cory Foy, facilitated the workshop. We played Prune the
Product Tree, and a new game, being debuted to the public, Your Worst Nightmare.
Idea behind Innovation Games®
Some prefer to call Innovation Games "facilitated workshops," perhaps worrying that shareholders
would not like to think C-level executives spent their time playing "games." However, whatever you call
them, they work, claims Hohmann. Based on studies of cognitive psychology and organizational
development, the exercises or "Innovation Games" are used for such things as portfolio management,
requirements management and any number of tasks that require innovative thinking, brainstorming and
collaboration.
As Hohmann described the two games we would be playing in the workshop, he said, "we know what
we know, and we know what we don't know. These games help uncover things that we don't know we
don't know." This out-of-the-box thinking is helpful in thinking beyond the conventional. It allows and
encourages our minds to go outside of what we've heard of and explore possibilities that we may have
never considered.
Click here to read more.
IG Training
Certified Scrum Product Owner with Innovation Games®
On September 1-2, I'll be joining 3Back's Doug Shimp for a Certified Scrum Product Owner with
Innovation Games class in Austin, TX. During this two-day interactive class, participants will learn about
Scrum's Product Owner role, which focuses on visioning, roadmapping and user stories, along with an
in-depth discussion of and practice with Innovation Games and they can be used in this context.
For more information on the class and to register, go to http://certified-scrum-austin.eventbrite.com/
Guest Blogger
Ryan Peel's 8 Tips for Online Game Facilitation
This month Innovation Games Trained Facilitator Ryan Peel shares his top 8 tips for improving online
game facilitation.
Recently, I facilitated an online Innovation Game®. The technology just worked, and I was really
happy with how it turned out. I did a little retrospective and recalled 8 things that I did to make the
experience better. Here they are:
1. Write down the question you are trying to answer. You've absolutely, without a doubt,
unquestionably got to understand and be clear about the question you're trying to answer.
Make this the first thing you do in planning for your game. Reserve one entire page in your planning
documents and write it down. I use my favorite 36pt font and make it the first page of my prep
documentation. I don't allow myself to get into the fun part before completing this step. Tip: The
Innovation Games® site has a set of tools and templates to help you plan.
2. Start out with a simple, universally understood image or graphic. The next step in the
planning process is to start developing your visual collaboration image. My general rule of thumb is the
simpler the image is, the better. My last game was about soccer, so I started out with a soccer field.
Even if you've never played soccer, odds are that you know what a soccer field looks like. You can
identify where the goals are and where the out-of-bounds lines are. Paying notice to these simple but
important details can become vital metaphors that will guide your participants to provide more insight
and make your game results even better. In the next step, you will use this image as the base for your
visual collaboration "canvas." Tip: If you're good at sketching, you can draw your own graphic or you
can find royalty free images on the web for very cheap.
Click here to read more.
More Friday Games
Play a Game; Facilitate a Game
Are you curious about how Innovation Games® can help you solve your problems? Do you want to
play a game and find out? We launched our "Play a Game with" program in May, featuring our trained
Innovation Games facilitators and Innovation Games staff. Each week, we'll be featuring a new
facilitator and game on our website.
Our next game will be a Buy a Feature Online facilitated by Michele Sliger on Friday, August 27 at
10:00 AM PDT. To register, simply go to http://seriousgames.innovationgames.com/
PlayAGameSliger.html.
Want to be a featured facilitator and host your own game? Contact Tami Carter at
[email protected] for more details.
IG Around the World
Upcoming Events
The Innovation Games® team is energetically in the market: engaging with customers, speaking at
industry events and forums, teaching, guest lecturing, etc. Upcoming live events and other
Play a Game; Facilitate a Game
Are you curious about how Innovation Games® can help you solve your problems? Do you want to
play a game and find out? We launched our "Play a Game with" program in May, featuring our trained
Innovation Games facilitators and Innovation Games staff. Each week, we'll be featuring a new
facilitator and game on our website.
Our next game will be a Buy a Feature Online facilitated by Michele Sliger on Friday, August 27 at
10:00 AM PDT. To register, simply go to http://seriousgames.innovationgames.com/
PlayAGameSliger.html.
Want to be a featured facilitator and host your own game? Contact Tami Carter at
[email protected] for more details.
IG Around the World
Upcoming Events
The Innovation Games® team is energetically in the market: engaging with customers, speaking at
industry events and forums, teaching, guest lecturing, etc. Upcoming live events and other
opportunities to connect with us are listed below.
Certified Scrum Product Owner Course with Innovation Games®
Doug Shimp & Luke Hohmann
September 1-2, 2010; Austin, TX
Innovation Games Master Course for Consultants
Luke Hohmann
September 16-17; Mountain View, CA
Innovation Games Practitioner Course
Jason Tanner
September 29-30, 2010; Atlanta, GA
Bridging the Gap: Linking Strategic Roadmaps to Tactical Project Plans
2010 Annual Symposium, PMI Silicon Valley
Luke Hohmann
September 21, 2010
Innovation Games Practitioner Course SOLD OUT to a PRIVATE CLIENT
Luke Hohmann
October 7-8; Mountain View, CA
Games for Democracy and PDMA Tackle Poverty
2010 Global Conference on Product Innovation Management
Orlando, FL; Oct. 16-20, 2010
Serious Play: Product Planning and Prioritization Through Innovation Games®
Cory Foy
Acts As Conference
Orlando, FL; Oct. 28-30, 2010
Innovation Games® for Agile Teams: Serious Games for Market Research and Collaboration
Oredev Developer Conference
Malmo, Sweden; November 8-12, 2010
Jason Tanner
Keynote and Innovation Games® Practitioner Class
Agilis 2010
Reykjavik, Iceland; November 17, 2010
Luke Hohmann
Innovation Games® Master Course for Consultants
Luke Hohmann
November 11-12; Mountain View, CA
Innovation Games® Practitioner Course
Luke Hohmann
December 9-10, 2010; New York, NY
Stay in Touch
Have any news about the Innovation Games® community? Industry new, upcoming classes,
conferences or events, public games, tips on facilitation, where to get a great deal on office supplies...
Whatever it is, we'd love to hear from you.
Can't wait for the next newsletter? Do you have to know what's new with Innovation Games®, right
now? Find us online, on Twitter, on LinkedIn, on Facebook or at Games for Democracy.
Sincerely,
Luke Hohmann
CEO & Founder
The Innovation Games® Company
m: +1-408-529-0319
[email protected]
www.innovationgames.com
The seriously fun way to do serious work -- seriously.
Innovation Games [email protected]