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    Why is a game of Scrabble good for your ServiceNow project?

    What is Scrabble?

    Scrabble is a word building game. Up to four players draw seven letters and create words out of them. There is a dedicated dictionary and every combination of letters put on the board must be present within this defined set.

    The game itself has become very popular all over the world. It has been translated into multiple languages, and there are yearly world champion events, not to mention local clubs and country championships. For the purpose of this article, I’ll be using a time-limited version of the game played in tournaments.

    You can read more about it on the wiki. I just wanted to start with this short introduction to make it clear what I will be covering. Yes, it will be about a board game and project management. Specifically, ServiceNow project management.

    Don’t be silly, it’s just a game…

    Yes. And no. It’s something more than just a regular board game:

    • It has a start and an end 

    • It has a points system

    • It is unpredictable

    • It has time constraints

    • The closer it gets to the end, the harder it is to create great value for non-experienced users

    • It takes a lot of games and experience to understand why one move is better than the other

    • A successful game requires an external documentation

    • There are multiple ways to create a move

    With game characteristics written like that, have you ever seen something as close to the agile project concept?

    Just imagine that players are members of the development team. The game starts when everyone is ready, the board is clear and the letters are shuffled and hidden. Every move is like an agile story - it builds the board, adds its value to the general picture and gives some points. Every player must use what is already available and make a move based on the current situation - it’s not possible to create something completely separate. 

    As with every project, the game has clearly defined end conditions and time constraints. You can even play overtime!

    What does it take to be good? You can of course play basic words, 1 word per move and be lucky to get 20-30 points out of it. Better players use their knowledge and board overview to create 4 or 5 new words on the board with a single move worth 80-100 points. The champions are great board designers. They can plan ahead, anticipate next moves and eventually score greatly within a single move. Let me just tell you that in the Polish version of the game, the most expensive word on the board is worth 1481 points (as explained here).

    Don’t worry, I won’t describe the game strategy here or explain how to count the points. I just want to show you how a simple game can be used to help people familiarize themselves with the specificity of managing ServiceNow projects.

    But games are for children or free time, not for work…

    Yes. And no. This kind of thinking has been overused in my opinion. It has also been a field of research for scientists. Gaming, as an activity, even without using a particular type of games (board games, video games, games in the fresh air, …) has been proven to help fight depression and improve cognitive functions

    Scrabble itself has also been discussed and proven to provide a lot of benefits. These include a lot of common good qualities that should be also present in developers working on any ServiceNow project:

    • Self-Improvement exercise

    • Increase in intelligence and strategic thinking

    • Planning ahead

    • Behaving in a time-limited situation when you want to achieve something

    • Dealing with stress

    • Learning how your brain works best

    • Learning how to achieve the desired result with limited resources

    • And finally, it teaches humility

    Scrabble vs game theory in project management

    Let’s get back to business. The concept of game theory in project management and how it could help you has been already analyzed multiple times (e.g. here). Learning some ideas while playing games helps you not only to have some fun, but also to better understand the work related to the projects:

    • Time constraints

    • Risk taking

    • Planning

    • Managing your resources

    What makes Scrabble a great training for ServiceNow related projects? 

    First of all, both concepts have unpredictable outcomes based on the multitude of options available. This is one of the greatest and at the same time, most dangerous characteristics of a successful implementation. Not only developers can benefit by learning to take risks and expect the unexpected on the last day of the projects (all those games lost by 1 point after the last move when you thought you were controlling the match from the beginning…) but also project managers or scrum masters can see that seemingly the best solution, is not always the best.

    There is also a concept of resource management in a time-limited, prone to stress environment. The best players control the board, their own letters, the score, they can quickly count the points given by multiple options they see and they even see and evaluate the risks coming from their moves - if they put a word in one place, they may open the path for another player to create an even bigger move. 

    This easily transfers to a ServiceNow project - during the sprint, you are limited by time when you work on your stories. You can complete each task in many different ways, but some of them are better than others. Some provide options for the future while others are a great learning experience that come with a cost. The question is, can I afford it now? Can I risk being wrong and losing my turn or should I rather spend some of my free time reviewing the dictionary documentation.

    Last but not least, the feeling of consequence. Building up a board in a game is like developing stories during the sprint. Developers create something that will later be used by someone else. Maybe not immediately, but eventually, at some point - it may even be their winning setup!

    Final thoughts

    Scrabble is a great game to improve your ServiceNow project management or development skills. There are probably many others that could also help, based on all of the game theory and overall game influence research, but these two share so many similarities that I am really surprised I haven’t yet heard of Scrabble tournaments for ServiceNow professionals.

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