I started to tell you about my year-long journey to learn more about gaming strategies for leadership development.

I started to tell you how that journey began at a conference, where the leaders I met were hungry for new and engaging leadership development approaches.

I started to tell you about the research that shows that games are effective for leadership development—in many ways.

I started to tell you about the white paper I’ve developed, which is itself a game.

I started to tell you about the presentations on gaming for leadership development I’ve made recently for the Training Officers Consortium (TOC), American Society for Training and Development (ASTD), and C² Technologies.

But before I could get started, I wondered:

Could a blog post be a game?

I mean, if a white paper can be a game, why not a blog post? My presentations had embedded in them games that allowed participants to experience the power of games for leadership development.

Wouldn’t it be more fun, just this once (or maybe more than once), if, instead of just reading this blog post, you actually played it?

I did a little research and found a whole genre of games called Role-Playing Blogs. Role-players use blog functionality to play out fantasy games, like Zombie Hunt.  Perhaps a similar approach could be used to give leaders regular practice in handling challenging situations.

For the TOC and ASTD presentations, participants played Family Feud to discover the value of games for leadership development and the elements of games that make them effective for leadership development.

Family Feud won’t work here, but what about a Scavenger Hunt?

Could you search the Internet to find the items in the list below?

1. One piece of research that shows how games can be effective for leadership development
2. Five elements of games that make them effective for leadership development
3. One great example of a game used for leadership development
4. One example, other than this one, of a blog post that is itself a game (not just one talking about games)
5. Five best practices to remember when using games for leadership development
6. The gaming elements I used in this blog game

On your mark, get set, go!

You have one week from today to submit your collected items in the Comments. The first three people who deliver all the listed items will get a lovely prize.

Anyone who responds will get a special code that opens a whole world of information on games for leadership development.

Good luck! Don’t get lost! Have fun, and know that just by playing you’re learning more about gaming for leadership development than you’ll ever learn by merely reading.