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Not all who wander are lost. How Fallout 4 Changed How I Think About Career Development
First things first, I want to admit that I’m not a huge gamer — at least not anymore. Sure, I play the occasional first person shooter but when it comes to RPGs or open world games, it’s been a while.
That being said, I love Fallout 4.
Sometime shortly after the player-controlled protagonist emerged from an underground bunker 210 years after a nuclear war, I became consumed with exploring the post-apocalyptic world. The late night hour or two I can steal away from work is now spent scavenging for resources, battling adversaries, and building weapons and settlements to allow for myself and the people of Massachusetts to survive in the harsh, dystopian landscape.
While any gamer reading this is already on board, some of you may be rolling your eyes. A fascination with a virtual gaming experience conjures thoughts of childish fantasy or avoidance of day-to-day realities. For these non-believers, I urge you to look into the work of Jane McGonigal and her TED talk Gaming Can Make A Better World. McGonigal is a game designer whose stated mission is, “to make it as easy to save the world in real life as it is in online games.”
In 2009, she suffered a severe concussion and found herself bedridden and suicidal. With her mental and physical health at an all-time low, she turned to the only thing she knows, games. McGonigal created “Jane the Concussion Slayer,” now renamed “SuperBetter”, an rpg that gamified her recovery. The game — informed by research that indicates games allow us to tackle tough challenges with more creativity and optimism, and empower us to reach out to others for help — allowed her to make a full recovery. Jane is proof that digital technology can be used to channel positivity and collaboration in the real world for our own betterment.
Inspired by Jane, and my firm’s foray into the world of eSports, I want to share how Fallout 4 has completely changed how I think about my career and what I believe you should learn from it, even if you aren’t committed to spending your sleepless nights patrolling the post-apocalyptic streets of Boston in the wasteland brought to life by Bethesda Studios.
