Core learning loops in game design & enterprise change management

I’ve been having a blast recording Season 3 of the Getting2Alpha podcast — I’m getting great insights from our varied & brilliant guests. My favorite part is when patterns emerge in unexpected places – like in the last 2 podcasts, which were about board game design and enterprise change management. 

Raph Koster and I are long-time colleagues & friends – and in last week’s G2A podcast, Raph shared his perspective on how to bring creative ideas to life.  I loved hearing about his experiences play-testing the core learning loop of his designs early, to make sure there’s a pleasurable learning loop going on. He explained that once that’s in place, everything else can be layered in.

YES!!!!!  I learned this approach from Raph, and his words capture the essence of Game Thinking in a simple, elegant way. Raph is DA MAN. I learn something from him every time we talk.

Listen now to Raph Koster’s Getting2Alpha Interview

In this week’s interview, my new friend & enterprise change agent Jeff Gothelf shares his deep experience working to bring agile/lean practices to corporate teams. If you listen closely, you’ll hear Jeff talking about the importance of a Core Learning Loop (although not in those words) – he’s outlining the loop that every Lean/Agile team engages in when running experiments and responding to data.

Jeff’s new book, Sense and Respond (out next year) is filled with smart tools & practical tips to improve your learning loop in a corporate setting.

Listen now to Jeff Gothelf’s Getting2Alpha Interview

I hope you get as much out of these interviews I as did. Let me know what you think in the comments – I’d love to hear from you.