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Is there any end to the number of games people play? In addition to the multitude of sports like soccer and hockey that are based on skill and physical ability, there is a host of those centered on challenge and chance. Cards or board games based on knowledge and trivia are my favorites.
Games appeal to our competitive nature but as a theory that can be applied to life challenges, they have a lot to offer. No matter what the game, the goal is to ‘win’; overcome an opponent or a personal score of some kind. Games work because they provide a structure to follow that either forces player’s to stick to a plan or have the wherewithal to quickly shift gears as needed. I like games and whenever I’m faced with doing something I really don’t want to do, but know that I likely need to do, I borrow the game theory to help me face reality and get cracking.
This approach started early on for me because unlike most teenagers, I was forced to be responsible and entirely self supporting. As a disabled youngster, finding my place in the world of working adults was a difficult challenge in of itself. The only way for me to compete in the workforce at that time was to do jobs that did not require skills and were not desirable by most. Dishwashing for a hotel fit the bill. You can not imagine what it is like to stand in the midst of an endless sea of dirty dishes as they flow toward you following the conclusion of: wedding banquets, conventions, trade shows, gala events, meeting functions. In addition to the continual dish debris from 2 dining rooms, a coffee shop and room service.
This is when I learned about designing games around anything. To avoid being overwhelmed I dissected and separated the tasks between the arrival of a tray of dirty dishes and the end result of a neatly stacked wagon of clean dishes. I broke this down to three main units and within each unit was a subset of two tasks. This was important because it gave me six distinct areas to adapt within an overall system. I applied the game “beat the clock” and enjoyed the challenge of delving into each unit to perfect its contribution to the time allotment to complete the ‘game’. In the end what was usually managed by two people, I improved upon by working independently.
Dishwashing at this level is in no way a pleasant vocation. Handling, and I mean handling, uneaten vegetables, remains of meat, and potatoes with cigarette butts, napkins stuffed in half filled coffee cups and the like, forced me to be creative in my thinking, if nothing else to avoid vomiting. I imagined what it might be like to search for pearls amidst an array of oysters. It too is a dirty job, and before the onset of the cultured pearl it was the only method to source out the gem. Okay, I admit far fetched but between mentally mining for pearls and playing beat the clock, I beat the odds.
Now, several years later, my vocation and life challenges continue to need dissecting from time to time in order to improve upon outcomes. The cards stack against me however, are lower, but nonetheless the greater the challenge the more I like to play. Winning is not the be- all- and- end-all of the process, but rather it is the playing. I play everyday; everyone knows practice is the cornerstone of any champion and my goal is to do whatever it takes to be one of life’s best players - everyday.
Get in the game!