What is Big Think?  

We are Big Idea Hunters…

We live in a time of information abundance, which far too many of us see as information overload. With the sum total of human knowledge, past and present, at our fingertips, we’re faced with a crisis of attention: which ideas should we engage with, and why? Big Think is an evolving roadmap to the best thinking on the planet — the ideas that can help you think flexibly and act decisively in a multivariate world.

A word about Big Ideas and Themes — The architecture of Big Think

Big ideas are lenses for envisioning the future. Every article and video on bigthink.com and on our learning platforms is based on an emerging “big idea” that is significant, widely relevant, and actionable. We’re sifting the noise for the questions and insights that have the power to change all of our lives, for decades to come. For example, reverse-engineering is a big idea in that the concept is increasingly useful across multiple disciplines, from education to nanotechnology.

Themes are the seven broad umbrellas under which we organize the hundreds of big ideas that populate Big Think. They include New World Order, Earth and Beyond, 21st Century Living, Going Mental, Extreme Biology, Power and Influence, and Inventing the Future.

Big Think Features:

12,000+ Expert Videos

1

Browse videos featuring experts across a wide range of disciplines, from personal health to business leadership to neuroscience.

Watch videos

World Renowned Bloggers

2

Big Think’s contributors offer expert analysis of the big ideas behind the news.

Go to blogs

Big Think Edge

3

Big Think’s Edge learning platform for career mentorship and professional development provides engaging and actionable courses delivered by the people who are shaping our future.

Find out more
Close

Games the Future for Innovation

April 14, 2011, 7:00 AM
Controller

What's the Big Idea?

People in the "gamification" industry forecast that by 2015, more than 50% of organizations that manage innovation will use game-like processes to do so. In fact Gartner goes so far as to predict that, "By 2014, a gamified service for consumer goods marketing and customer retention will become as important as Facebook, eBay or Amazon, and more than 70 percent of Global 2000 organizations will have at least one gamified application." Why do we need to simulate a game? Because games can offer: faster feedback cycles, clear goals and rules of play, a compelling narrative, and tasks that are challenging but achievable. 

What's the Latest Development?

Jeff Lopez mentions the World Bank’s Evoke but says one of the most interesting examples is Idea Street. The latter is an internal project of the U.K. Department of Work and Pensions which lets employees interact and share ideas amid some game mechanics like badges and leader boards. In its first 18 months, the project is said to have generated 1,400 ideas, 63 of which the Department has implemented.

 

Games the Future for Innova...

Newsletter: Share: