Taking teams to the next level of performance

You CAN take your team to the next level of performance IF you learn how to think like a game designer.

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.

4 lessons from top game designers can help you drive change and upskilling more effectively

Here our premium content we are going to unpack 4 lessons from top game designers can help you drive change and upskilling more effectively - by helping your team shifting from change management mode to change leadership. Not just accepting the change, but leveraging it, shaping it and making good change happen.

1. Make the Objective Obvious, Even if the Path Isn’t

Great games are rarely easy—but players always know what winning looks like.
You may not know every twist ahead, but you know the mission, the constraints, and the definition of success.

Leadership application:
Teams stall when goals are fuzzy, not when work is hard. Before asking people to stretch, leaders must clearly answer:

• What does “done” look like?
• What must be true for us to advance?
• What won’t matter at this level?

Clarity is not control. It’s a gift. Without it, people waste energy guessing instead of executing.

2. Introduce New Skills Before Raising the Difficulty

Elite game designers never spike difficulty without first giving players a new tool, mechanic, or tactic—and a safe place to practice it.

Leadership application:
If the challenge is rising but the skills aren’t, frustration follows.
Strong leaders deliberately ask:

• What new capability does this level require?
• Where do we practice it at low risk?
• What old habits must be unlearned?

Throwing people into harder work without helping them learn new skills isn’t “high standards.” It’s poor design.

3. Create Tight Feedback Loops

Games work because feedback is immediate. You know quickly what worked, what didn’t, and how to adjust.

Leadership application:
Long feedback cycles kill momentum. Waiting months to find out whether an approach worked is like playing blindfolded.

Effective leaders design:

• Short execution cycles
• Fast signals of progress or failure
• Frequent “checkpoint” conversations

This shifts teams from fear of failure to learning velocity—the real competitive advantage. Look for ways to shorten feedback loops. Give real time feedback. Praise and correction. Make learning in the moment a normal non-shameful pattern.

4. Let Players Discover—Don’t Over-Script

The best games don’t explain everything. They give just enough structure, then let players explore, experiment, and develop mastery.

Leadership application:
Over-prescription turns capable teams into passive followers. Under-structure creates chaos. The art is the balance.

Great leaders:

• Define the rules of the level
• Clarify the win condition
• Then step back and let teams choose their tactics and learn

AI tools are like the tools in the game level that you use to solve problems. Leaders need to make sure these are available to their teams. Set up the next level so that teams can find the tools that work for them.

Ownership is what turns change management into change leadership.

The Bottom Line

Your job as a leader isn’t to just tell the team to get to the next level or else. It isn't to play the level for your team.
Your job is to design the next level well enough that they can adapt, learn, gain new tools and capabilities and ultimately win. Emerging stronger more capable, and ready for the next level.

When leaders adopt a game designer mindset, teams don’t just accept change.
They engage it, master it, and use it to level up.

🎁 Bonus Content: 3 Levels of AI Competency move your teams through

• Level 1: Using AI to reduce delay factor (time spent writing sentences, pages etc...time to first draft is now less than 2ms vs previously 2hrs or more)
• Level 2: Using multiple AI tools to complete sets of tasks or to cross check against each other, for example, asking Copilot to create a draft then asking Claude or ChatGPT to do a competing version. Or asking one to research, asking the other to doublecheck the outputs. This can apply to coding as well.
• Level 3: Using sets of AI agents to manage a process or lifecycle. This could be a business process, or it could be a rapid prototyping or devops process. There are emerging examples of this (best ones are in smaller nimbler companies), but larger companies are going to have to embrace this or accept loss of market share.