Prompt's Blog
Geeks to inherit corporate world?
06 June 2007
Posted by Fiona Campbell-Howes
Ever led a loyal band of dwarves and night elves into victorious battle? If so, IBM may be interested in employing you.
Leadership skills demonstrated inside the massive multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) World of Warcraft are just as valid as leadership skills demonstrated in the 'real' world, according to IBM UK's 'metaverse evangelists' Ian Hughes and Roo Reynolds.
Leading an 'open space' discussion about the business value of virtual worlds at yesterday's Blogs and Social Media Forum in London, Hughes said that IBM was just as likely to consider graduate job applicants' skills with online worlds and networks as it was their real-life achievements.
"If people have natural leadership skills they will demonstrate them no matter what they're doing," he said. "Leading a successful guild in Warcraft is no different [in terms of management potential] from running a successful trading card operation, or selling cans of Coke at a festival."
I asked Hughes and Reynolds if this meant that a different sort of person - one more used to socialising online than in the real world - was now starting to rise up the corporate ladder at IBM and elsewhere.
Hughes says not, but believes that social media and virtual worlds are giving people more and different opportunities to prove themselves in the corporate environment.
"Presentation skills are no longer simply about being able to get up and talk in a departmental meeting," he said. "Someone who can make a great podcast, or run a successful event in Second Life, has equally valuable presentation skills."
While Hughes maintains that leaders are all cut from the same cloth, no matter how they choose to demonstrate their abilities, I'm not so sure this is the case. IBM's valuing of skills gained in arenas traditionally associated with 'antisocial loners' may be an early indication that people who were written off in the past as 'geeks' and 'losers' are now actually shaping the future of business.
IBM, of course, is a natural habitat for geeks, which may be why Hughes doesn't see anything especially remarkable about his attitude. When the likes of Merrill Lynch and Pfizer start fast-tracking mages and paladins to the upper echelons of management, we'll know the geeks have truly inherited the earth.
tags: socialmediaforum | metaverse | warcraft | recruitment
Comments:
I think there's value in both arguments here. While it's true that skills needed to lead online don't overlap perfectly with skills needed to lead in the real world, I think those online skills are increasingly important. It doesn't mean that one still doesn't have to get up in front of a real-person meeting and bring reluctant attendees to a roaring consensus.
In high school, I took part in Model United Nations. I typically served as a 'delegate' for a small African country, and I typically managed to band together most of the third world as a huge and persuasive bloc, where we succeeded in browbeating the Security Council into all kinds of things. In real life, now? I'm a manager. Surprising? no, but that practice was (a) in person and (b) directly related.
Does someone who can drum up a great podcast automatically equal someone who is a good speaker for a conference? No. Does someone who leads a successful online guild automatically equal someone who can manage subordinates? No. But there is certainly likely to be some overlap; they are, at least, worth interviewing. And that may be the key here; these experiences have become valuable in terms of setting your resume apart. I bet they won't matter one whit if you interview like a toad on helium.
In high school, I took part in Model United Nations. I typically served as a 'delegate' for a small African country, and I typically managed to band together most of the third world as a huge and persuasive bloc, where we succeeded in browbeating the Security Council into all kinds of things. In real life, now? I'm a manager. Surprising? no, but that practice was (a) in person and (b) directly related.
Does someone who can drum up a great podcast automatically equal someone who is a good speaker for a conference? No. Does someone who leads a successful online guild automatically equal someone who can manage subordinates? No. But there is certainly likely to be some overlap; they are, at least, worth interviewing. And that may be the key here; these experiences have become valuable in terms of setting your resume apart. I bet they won't matter one whit if you interview like a toad on helium.
You're right, Valerie - you do of course still need to have real-world skills to succeed in business. But what interests me is that skills gained in virtual worlds are now starting to be accorded equal validity.
Although, in a company like IBM, where teams are highly likely to be dispersed across different countries with colleagues rarely meeting face to face (actually it transpired that one of the primary ways that IBM uses Second Life is for internal meetings), online social networking skills may come to be more prized than face-to-face skills.
As I'm someone who generally prefers typing to speaking, that notion makes me happy.
Although, in a company like IBM, where teams are highly likely to be dispersed across different countries with colleagues rarely meeting face to face (actually it transpired that one of the primary ways that IBM uses Second Life is for internal meetings), online social networking skills may come to be more prized than face-to-face skills.
As I'm someone who generally prefers typing to speaking, that notion makes me happy.
I think the notion that the skills are completely seperate and distinct when it comes to leadership is one that needs some study and consideration. Whilst I may have used the running of a guild as a throw away comment, it is true that not all guild leaders will be succesful in real life situations. However, just as with any simulation, or practice people learn their trade, they learn to lead, hone natural skills. Just as it is very unlikely you will fly on an airline with a pilot who has not been in a flight simulator, we are seeing, through mass collaboration, the simulation of some more business style of social skills forming.
None of this replaces real life however an aptitude for leading, or running a business or selling your products, educating others, helping others or just showing innovative thought can be expressed through many more channels now to many more people. Virtual worlds are one of them, as are blogs, ebay and games.
The exciting part is that the technology is getting less in the way and just a channel for people to communicate.
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None of this replaces real life however an aptitude for leading, or running a business or selling your products, educating others, helping others or just showing innovative thought can be expressed through many more channels now to many more people. Virtual worlds are one of them, as are blogs, ebay and games.
The exciting part is that the technology is getting less in the way and just a channel for people to communicate.
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