🎮 2026 will demand teams to get to the next level - here's how...
You CAN take your team to the next level of performance IF you learn how to think like a game designer.
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In this Issue
- 🎮 The way leaders empower teams to move to the next level
- 🎁 4 lessons from top game designers to help you drive change and upskilling more effectively
- 🎁 Bonus Content: 3 Levels of AI Competency move your teams through
- 🆕 Macro Update - the S3T Macro Panorama has been updated for Q1 2026.
- 📈 See the S3T Economic Dashboard for the Top 500+ US & International real-time economic indicators.
Video game levels: Analogy for leaders who want to empower teams to move to the next level.
Last week we talked about comfort zones and specifically the importance of getting out of one comfort zone so that you can move to another. You and your team have to keep moving to the next level. Getting comfortable at the next level of performance.
But as leaders we have to design and prepare that next level. Today I want to introduce you to a key insight that will make a huge difference in your ability to help others succeed.
Have you ever tried to play a video game that wasn't finished?...the rendering isn't done, objects are missing ...pretty frustrating, right?
Unfortunately many times leaders are not very good at structuring the next level and communicating it to their teams. They're fine at telling people that they need to get to the next level. But not so great at creating success structures that the teams can play through when they get to that level.
And before we go any further: Let's clarify why this is so important...because this might look pretty strange: we're talking about video games as if they have something to do with business strategy.
Well, they really do and here's how: If you want to be an effective change leader - someone who successfully leads change, and leads others to embrace change and move to the next level - You have to have the compassion and the empathy to take the time to show people how they can succeed and how they can be secure and comfortable - or confident is the better word - in that next level.
In a nutshell, that's what good game designers do. They lead you into environments where you can gradually learn to succeed. They don't throw something at you that is pure blinding chaos that you can't make any sense of and have no hope of making any progress in. Nobody would play that game.
Unfortunately many leaders who are comfortable with change and ambiguity can sometimes be surprisingly non-empathetic to others on their team who are not so comfortable with ambiguity and with change, but yet it's very important that we bring those people along.
It's kind of sad when these same leaders then complain that their people are being "resisters" and are refusing to embrace change. They're actually afraid that you're asking them to embrace failure - and not the cool "fail fast" hipster talk ...like career derailing failure. They literally don't know how they can deliver value if they go in the direction you're pointing them.
You're gonna have to put in the work to really structure the next operating environment so that it's clear to them how they can succeed.
- What do they have to do to actually learn and build the skills gradually
- What are the tools? What are the cheat codes? What are the things that are going to help them?
You've got to create that intentionally or else accept that people will resist and will not get on board. And it won't be because they're bad people. It'll be because you are trying to force them into something that they do not feel safe in and do not feel like they can succeed in.
For example, right now, many organizations are pushing their teams to "embrace AI" in their work. There is most likely a goal or perhaps an unspoken expectation in your organization that AI must be used to accelerate and optimize the work. There are most likely people with deep-seated fears that they won't be able to be successful. They probably need help learning how to prompt and check. They may need help learning which tools to use when.
You CAN take your team to the next level of performance IF you learn how to think like a game designer.
If you want to move your team or your organization to the next level of performance, you'll have to learn how to think like a game designer.
You'll need to take the time - Like a good game designer - to painstakingly think through and build out that next level in the game. Make it clear and concrete for everyone. What's the objective? What is the path? What are the rewarding moments along that path? What are the challenges along that path? How can they be overcome? What are the cheat codes or tactics that help you win? How do you know you won or finished?
This takes some forethought and work. But it's actually one of the most vital and rewarding ways you can invest in your organization's success.
So how do you structure the next level of the game in a way that your team your org can understand it, play thru it and be successful?
Moment of Commitment
In our premium content we are going to unpack 4 lessons from top game designers that can help you lead your organization to the next level of performance.
But if you are not a paying member, there is still something very important for you to take away from this and apply this week:
Commit that you will make time to do the following exercise two times this week:
Spend time putting yourself in the shoes of those who are not comfortable with change and ambiguity. Think about all the oncoming change, and what it must look like and feel like from their perspective. Have a moment of empathy - think about how unsettling this must be. What its like to feel that you might be obsolete, or out of the loop. Let those feelings sit with you, and motivate you to invest the time to create doable next levels of performance.
Why do we do it 2 times? Because it will reinforce the empathy and increase your commitment level.
Keep learning with S3T Premium Content.