Gamestorming: A Playbook for Innovators, Rulebreakers, and Changemakers

Hugely useful toolset, but not great for non practitioners or those without a broader context for the activities.

A collection of games that whitstand the test of time

The book is about “Games people play” and…wait thats another book!

A collection of collaboration tools and techniques, encoded in games. As such, the author presents some of the techniques that are known and exist already for a long time under various names, using the form of a list grouped by the stage of the game they belong to.

The games themselves are very good and have a wide applicability, the fact that they’re rooted in human behavior and psichology, keeps them fresh.
The way the author chose to present them…well, thats a different story.

In an effort to cover as much ground as possible, the book went from games people use for collaboration to a reference of games. It show more felt tiresome going through the whole book, but nonetheless useful.

Good for the notes found in the games, an overall insightful look into human behavior. show less

Carrying the idea of an information literacy model familiar to teacher librarians, here is a work from the gamer’s mink on solving problems in business. In this version, the authors present their 7Ps steps are: Purpose, product, People, process, pitfalls, prep, practice concerns. The first four ideas are the main circular factors and the final three are concerns outside that circle. This approach is a wise one because the “boss” invites the known skills of the gamer over into a business model, relying on what is already known to inform the problem at hand. So how does this model inform a teacher librarian working with various teachers on the solution to learning problems? Simply stated, it is the need for adults to look into the show more various worlds that kids are living in today and draw the skills of those worlds over into the academic world. It is not enough to just label a kid as a gamer and give up trying to reach that kind of kid, it is about knowing what kinds of skills and interests a game has and then incorporating those strengths into an engaging academic problem. That is the reason for recommending this book because it gives some insight into the gameer’s mind. Of course, another way is to get a group of gamers together and have them analyze what goes on in the gaming world and how they can use those skills in pursuit of a problem at hand. Giving up on kids with many non-academic interests is no solution. show less

Great overview of what you can do with gamestorming, but without a good game storming retreat or workshop, this book doesn`t help you much.

A list of brainstorming techniques and workshop approaches. Little real world examples and measured value in the outcome. The title over-promises something much bigger than what the content delivers.

Great things don't happen in a vacuum. But creating an environment for creative thinking and innovation can be a daunting challenge. How can you make it happen at your company? The answer may surprise you: gamestorming. This book includes more than 80 games to help you break down barriers, communicate better, and generate new ideas, insights, and strategies. This unique collection of games encourages engagement and creativity while bringing more structure and clarity to the workplace.

From the blurb:
This book includes more than 80 games to help you break down barriers, communicate better, and generate new ideas, insights, and strategies. The authors have identified tools and techniques from some of the world's most innovative professionals, whose teams collaborate and make great things happen. Gamestorming is the result: a unique collection of games that encourage engagement and creativity while bringing more structure and clarity to the workplace