Musings

After a long time, I return to Gamification – a topic that is close to my heart given the potential that this simple tool has, to improve business processes and work for social good and welfare. This post will be split into 3 parts. In this part, I will talk about the game system and some of the benefits that it will bring about to the contractors/ players. In the second part, I will delve into the other part of the game involving the government and the competition and rewards that the gamified system can bring. Finally, in the 3rd part, we will take a look at how the quality of the work can be reinforced and maintained at a high standard using game concepts. In Bangalore, as in many cities across India, a major problem exists in the quality of the roads. Every year, the monsoon rains brings with it cheer for us citizens along with despair for commuters

read more Gamification of road building process – 1

  As humans, we have a fascination with moving fast. There are enough sports around either running, driving or even flying! The tendency to go “faster than ever before” has lead to numerous inventions around improving the speed. In swimming, there were faster shark suits invented that would ostensibly help the swimmer wipe off seconds from existing records, a huge margin considering how little the timings have varied over the years. In running, there have been fantastic advances in the kind of footwear to assist in healthier and consequently, faster times. Sports science is a specialized area and there are innumerable advances in this field over the past 20-30 years as we learn more about the human body and its response to external stimuli. In motorsport, the goal is simply to go faster and reach the finish line quicker than anyone else. Teams in Formula 1 spend millions of dollars in aerodynamic development of the cars and in research on

read more Gamifying speed regulation

  An oft repeated remark amongst siblings – “Behave your age!” or “Behave yourself!”. What exactly does one mean when they say something like that? I have heard that often enough from my sister (when I was little, of course 😉 ). At the time it would draw a retort from me which would be along the lines of the very original “YOU behave yourself!” Oh well! Times have changed now. It gets me thinking on some of the behavioral traits that we carry forward from our childhood. One such example is with possessiveness. As a child, invariably, either we were possessive or have encountered other children who were extremely possessive about their things. It may have been about a toy, their notebooks, tiffin boxes and in many cases, about their family. How often do we see kids clinging on to a toy or a video game – refusing to let others play even if they are not interested in

read more Behave your age!

In continuation to my previous post on the Italian marine saga, it turns out that since then, the marines have returned to India where they will now face trial in Delhi at the Supreme Court, if my memory serves me right. It turns out that diplomacy won the day eventually. One can only wonder about the kind of communication that would have taken place between the Indian and Italian governments to have them return the marines to India to face trial. It does appear that the Italians extracted their pound of flesh in the bargain given that the marines will be tried in a different court, they having been set for trial in the Kerala High Court earlier. Ini the aftermath of the return of the marines, the Italian Foreign Minister has resigned and the Italian Prime Minister has commented on the likelihood of Italy being “stranded diplomatically” by all other nations. That sounds like the right thing to have

read more All’s well that ends well?