Innovation, assumptions, and following the advice of Ferris Bueller

Unpacking the ideas around innovation and entrepreneurship can be a dodgy task. In America, most people prefer linear straight-forward approaches that assure quality and accountability. I’d like a Six Sigma with a shot of SCRUM, please. While I was studying in Vancouver at VFS, my instructor in 3D Design, who also worked as an art director at Next Level Games, told me that the most important skill he looks for in a potential new employee is the ability to create without parameters and defined end-goals. Being comfortable with uncertainty and ambiguity might feed the creative process but it makes Trustees and potential donors roll their eyes.

The generational divide between Baby Boomers and those of us that follow is the new great divide, the new red/blue state chasm. Exit polls, interaction with technology, and relationships to social institutions like marriage and parenthood vividly diverge if you are born after 1968.

I find that attitudes about gaming, open access, and social design among Boomers slants towards dismissive or sometimes hostile. “How will it make money, if you give it away?” “If it’s just for fun, what’s the point?” And most importantly, “Is it good for the Jews?” Though these are valid concerns they reveal subtle pejorative opinions of emerging media and the “idealism of youth” and how we (the young folk) live Jewishly. So in defense of gaming, I give you Exhibit A: Prospect Magazine and their just released cover article about the growing might of gaming that debunks a lot of the myths about the medium.

“According to the Entertainment Software Association of America, the world’s largest gaming association, the average American video game player is now 35 years old and has been playing games for 12 years, while the average frequent buyer of games is 40. Moreover, 40 per cent of all players are women, with women over 18 representing a far greater portion of the game-playing population (33 per cent) than boys aged 17 or younger (18 per cent). Much of the recent growth in the value of the gaming industry has been driven by the increased diversity and affluence of its consumer base; the hard core of adolescent males are no longer central. In Britain, Ofcom’s annual Communications Market report for 2007 noted that, despite the electronic games market continuing to grow in value, significantly fewer children were playing console and computer games than two years previously (61 per cent of children aged 5-15 did so regularly in 2005, compared to 53 per cent in 2007).” Link to full article

Exhibit B: Games may keep your brain from oozing out your ears as you age! No of course not, but they do keep your noggin sharp and can indeed be profitable. We shouldn’t let outdated pre-conceptions blur the horizon lines. Ferris Bueller taught us that if we don’t stop and look around every once in a while we might miss something good. Thankfully Deli.cio.us.ly enabled friends , colleagues , and the wonders of Jamie Lidell can keep things interesting and fun!