About the game
FLIGBY is an award-winning edutainment game on leadership skills development designed by scientists and business professionals. It is an interesting management training-tool to improve the performance and acquisition of management skills.
The scenario-based style intends that the player (assigned as the new General Manager of a reputable California Vineyard) navigates different challenging business situations dealing with complex interpersonal and business problems namely employee relations and accounting. The commanded goal is to achieve a high-performance and boosting the well-being of the employees.
A good leader needs to have decision-making skills which are tested in the game. After a conscious reflection on the best decision for each situation encountered, the General Manager will face the consequences and will be driven across different scenarios upon the irreversible decisions. Luckily, the game allows the player to take risky decisions without facing the costly consequences in real life.
As I progressed and carefully listened to the feedback on my decisions, I became aware of the importance and complexity of finding the right balance between the many factors that influence the decision-making process. For example, handling conflicts among employees and their ambitions while standing firm to the newly implemented strategic plan for the success of the winery.
I learned that it is essential for a leader to know and pay attention to the employees ‘transversal skills, instead of adhering to a position title, in the company as they might be useful for other positions that better align with their motivations and thus drives success. Guarantee self-realization and well-being at work will be translated into increasing motivation and performance.
Playing in the feet of a General Manager, you are responsible for implementing change in the business strategy and functioning of the Turul Winery which is not be an easy task given the lack of trust, tensions among employees, decreasing sales and unfavorable community relations. For this, FLIGBY emphasizes the importance of “flow” as a key driver of success.
What is ‘Flow’?
Flow is the mental state in which a person is fully immersed in a feeling of energized focus, full involvement, and success in the process of the activity.
The father of this positive psychology theory, Mihály Csíkszentmihályi, defined it as fairly difficult yet creative and spontaneous. Flow requires clear and attainable goals; focused attention; instant rewarding feeling of success being rooted in oneself; loss of the sense of time and a balance between challenge and boredom.
He exemplified this feeling with an artist being so focused on the creative process to the point that he might forget to eat. It leads not only to skill mastery and improved performance but also to true enjoyment.
Contrary to what most of us believe, happiness does not simply happen to us. It’s something that we make happen, and it results from our doing our best. Feeling fulfilled when we live up to our potentialities is what motivates differentiation and leads to evolution. The experience of happiness in action is enjoyment – the exhilarating sensation of being fully alive.
To get into a state of flow however, we must find enjoyment in the action we are carrying out. Csíkszentmihályi argues that pleasure, in itself, is not enough to lead a happy and valuable life. Enjoyment is attached to accomplishment, whereas pleasure is expected.
Flow and leadership
Pursuing and persevering in flow plants the seeds for leadership skills to emerge such as motivation to become better, problem-solving, prioritizing tasks, productivity and management.
It is important to acknowledge that businesses run by monetary capital but most importantly human beings who have different backgrounds, mindsets, skills, feelings and motivations. The way an individual behaves at work is inseparable from its personality traits.
FLIGBY is a powerful tool for future leaders to identify their own skillset and character as a leader, either growing or not developed yet, and it makes the player conscious of its strengths and weaknesses of which to take advantage and on which to work. Developing leadership skills is a fun learning process that undoubtedly changes one’s mindset and worldview and allows the individual to fulfill its potential; a good path for both personal and professional success.
By Julia Sanz
JESC Summer Intern
