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January 15, 2009

Lessons from a board game

Last weekend, the extended family—my father and stepmother, my husband and I, two sons, a daughter and daughter’s boyfriend—got together and, as generally happens in these gatherings, people started playing games.

First, the guys played a killer game of Risk in which one person achieved world domination, the losers got mad, and a lot of testosterone was released.

Then, we moved on to less fractious games: my son Nick had brought a new one called Apples to Apples, and we played another named, Catch Phrase.

Both games were new to most of us, and the interesting thing was how we approached learning them:

My 79-year-old dad (Greatest Generation) wanted to read the directions, every word.

I (Baby Boomer) was happy to have the game explained to me, as long as I felt I understood the rules.

The Millennials (ages 19 to 21) were much more free-wheeling. They were quite happy to start playing, rules be damned. And, in fact, about half way through a round of Apples to Apples, they revealed that there was a difference between “the way we play” and the official rules. (Their attitude was: Why not shape the game to what you want?)

Remember this next time you’re communicating a set of rules (new policies, benefit changes, etc.) to your multi-generational workforce: One approach does not fit all.

Posted by Alison Davis at January 15, 2009 01:09 PM