More thankfulness

Without a doubt, Thanksgiving is one of the key times during the year that one stops and reflects. Many times, we plow through life driving forward without pause. This morning I am taking a few moments to do that. Of course, there are several things that I am thankful for that I I am not mentioning such as the support of my family, a stable job, etc. I know that is the tendency of most during a time of reflection. Not that I am not reflecting on those as well, I am choosing to go a little deeper this morning.

This morning I want to thank the small handful of people I have worked with professionally over the past year.

The reason I am thankful for those people this morning are for different reasons. Some of the top reasons that came to mind are:

1. There is one person who has taught me to be more empathetic and compassionate towards others I work with
2. There is another who has helped me learn more patience
3. A third who has demonstrated how being energetic and friendly opens doors of opportunity, rather than just kicking doors down
   
4. Another person who is reserved with their trust, has taught me how to earn that trust

There are certainly more examples. Not all of them seemed like positive experiences at the time. Each of them required growth from me.

This past year I have learned more about myself and others through partners and co-workers than in prior years. This year I am thankful for learning more about the people in my professional life, and the resulting personal growth as an individual.

New Heights

In July 2011, my 10 year old son had the chance to climb a public rock wall. While we were standing in line there were other boys around his age pushing and shoving and generally rough housing. Ben, who is meek and passive, was avoiding the mayhem. Though he is physically strong, he tends to avoid pretty much all conflict. I stood by him in line as he shrank from the activities around him. The other boys proclaiming how they will conquer the wall with ease.

When we arrived at the front of the line, Ben was equipped with his gear and helmet along with the three boys in front of him. These four kids were clipped in, faced towards the steep wall and told to go for it. I was surprised as Ben shot up the wall. As I watched him maneuver the wall, I glanced at what was happening with the other kids near him. One never got off the ground. One made it half way. And one managed to get up the wall but with considerable difficulty. It made me smile to know that Ben has the skills, but he chooses to use them when it matters most rather than just talking about it.

I learn a lot from observing Ben. Whereas my confidence is assertive, his is quiet. Where my strength comes from inner drive, his is derived by inner calculation. Where I might run through others to achieve, Ben will steer around them to victory. I like that there is room in this world for all types of winners. For every Muhammad Ali there is an Abraham Lincoln. Each with his own potential to lead to the best of their abilities.

At the conclusion of climbing the wall to the top, not once but twice, Ben humbly offered me a "high-five" as we turned to walk away. And he never said a word. That moment, on that day, Ben's success was not simply a result of his scaling of a challenging obstacle. His success, in my eyes, was the result of giving every effort to reach his maximum potential. It is one thing to talk of new heights, and quite another to reach them.

"Success is a peace of mind which is a direct result of self-satisfaction in knowing you made the effort to become the best that you are capable of becoming." - John Wooden

Immersion and Engagement

I recently had the opportunity to watch two movies at the theater. One I walked away from thinking it was excellent, and the other I left thinking it was mediocre. When I thought about why I had these different reactions, I came up with multiple possible considerations. One in particular that interested me was the immersion experience, or lack there of.

Theater is a fascinating engagement model topic and warrants a much deeper study than my own cursory examination. But I would argue that movies have always provided escape through the immersion of the audience. Return of the Jedi opened six years to the day after A New Hope on May 25, 1983, and ushered in the release with it Lucasfilm's new theater sound quality system, THX. Audiences at THX-certified theaters were able to experience the acoustic qualities of the film as the filmmaker intended. The objective was to fully immerse the audience into the Star Wars experience through the use of enhanced audio. Of course audio is only one of the many immersion tactics leveraged by filmmakers. Special effects and video enhancements are obvious choices to include. I am also reminded of the experience of the Soarin' over California ride at Disneyland in Anaheim where the smell of the California orange groves meet the senses of the guests.

All of these examples are intended to draw the audience into a new world and provide the escape necessary to enjoy the experience. At the time of this writing, Gamification techniques for Internet based services are all the rage. They are today's popular method for user engagement. Due to some success, it has become a highly copied model for many web based applications and can be read about in countless books authored more recently than not. But I believe gamification is really only a means to an end. It is a strategy for enticing engagement through a parallel experience. What really should be considered the immersive experience for the audience regardless of the platform. Movies, amusement park rides, and Internet services all share the same need for captivating the user.

The prevalence of tactics becoming common among platforms will require new invention and heights to be realized to continue the same depth of engagement. In my opinion, gaming tactics will peak then give way to another form of immersion of the user into an experience. The objective is behavior modification and user engagement. Perhaps the next generation is a new strain of gaming tactics for engagement or something all together new such as how George Lucas appealed to the senses of his audiences in a new way. Whatever the emerging engagement strategies will evolve to, it will require further immersion of its audience to capture the attention. Otherwise, it will be one of those movies that leaves you wondering if it was worth the price of admission.