Greetings!
Last week, the week of 11 Jun 2012, I was delivering a team building program for a group of IT support staff from a large enterprise dealing with milk products. We were at Awana Genting Highlands Golf and Country Resort, and one of the activities during the program was a Laser Tag game. Those of you who have participated in a Laser Tag game know how much fun it can be. Those unused to physical exertions also know how exhausting it is. Well, the participants certainly had the time of their lives! It was great fun watching adults play like kids around the block, complete some all-too-familiar playground arguments like "You're dead! I shot you!", "Hey, not fair! You're supposed to be wearing your headband!", "She's been shot so many times, how come she's still running around?", and so on. When was the last time you saw something like that, or took part in a shootout?  As I watched them having fun shooting their opponents, and sometimes their own team members, I marvelled at how something like Laser Tag could be both a boon and a bane. Simulations, virtual reality and similar technologies aim to create environments and situations which are as near to real life as possible. This is for the purposes of training staff, forecasting to aid in decision-making, and testing postulations or prototypes before either conducting pilot runs or manufacturing small amounts of actual product. Military and flight simulation systems are amongst the more well-known ones, but there are also business simulations like Capitalism, Business Tycoon, and many others. Universities use them as part of course modules, and companies use them in staff training and development. Simulation technologies are very useful in that they save you the pain of losing 50 million dollars because you forgot to expand your list of suppliers, resulting in lost accounts because you were then unable to deliver your goods on time, for example. The same technologies can, however, also lull you into having a false sense of security or even a false sense of superiority. This happens when they are used excessively during a course of instruction without being balanced by a healthy dose of participation in real-life situations. Simulations are meant to support training and development efforts, not replace hands-on, real-life experiences.  So, recognize the strengths and limitations of simulations, and if you think they can benefit your organization, go ahead and employ them! Just be aware that people, like sled dogs, can be conditioned into thinking that the lead dog is running away from them, and expend their full energies in what they think is the pursuit. Of course, the sled gets drawn quite a distance that way. However, if the lead dog is worth his salt, the others would know during the next night stop that reality, indeed, does bite. Painfully. Have a great week ahead! |
