CONFORM: How Gaming and Work Are Alike
Hi, my name is Joe and I play video games (some would even say that I play video games poorly, but I digress). In a world where rigid thinking seems to be the norm, I try to challenge myself to have some semblance of having an open mind, one that can think outside of the box.
Video gaming challenges me to do this in many ways. The first is to get rid of any preconceived notions based on the cover art or some random person's YouTube video. Whether it's a hack-n-slash adventure like Diablo III or a sandbox building game like Minecraft, I am exposed to - and to some degree conform to - the rules and expectations I find myself constrained in.
Why is this important? Believe it or not, the workplace is much like video games in this regard. We go to a place to perform certain tasks within a given set of rules and expectations. The workplace, in my opinion, is even more demanding where the rules can suddenly - or drastically - change throughout different departments, positions, offices, or nations depending on a number of factors. Learning how to adapt to these rules is much the same process as learning and adapting to the rules in a video game. While the rules in games are typically expected to remain fairly static, there is still crossover from the video game setting to the workplace.
Just like in video games, and with more lasting consequences, one's success is not only dependent upon gaining mastery of the rules, but also a mastery of the tools at your disposal to complete the tasks given to you. For example, in Minecraft Redstone (a type of item you mine up in the game) is the key to any sort of real automation be it massive sorting and deep storage systems and especially automated farms, and the crafting grid (if you don't know the recipes to create the items you really can't even get started). In Diablo III you need to be able to master the traits system and know what weapons and armor go well with whatever build you're working on. Either way, it requires an investment in time (research on what others have done plus independent testing to see what works for you) and development (actually deploying the knowledge you've gained from the research). You see what works and keep that, and whatever didn't? You get rid of it. That kind of mindset is invaluable in the workplace, more so than in video games unless you're a professional in esports and then video games are you work.
It doesn't even matter if the rules make much sense. Minecraft's Redstone, for example, follows a weird logic all its own. Learning to conform to the rules of Redstone will enable you to progress in the game. Once you've automated basic tasks (food farming, resource farming, item smelting, etc.) you can then turn to focus on what the game is really about: Building. The same is true at work. You want to figure out what the rules are for any particular task (or set of tasks) and then try to boil it down to its essence to find a process that will allow you to efficiently and correctly complete the task at hand. In IT work this can be as simple (or as complex) as writing PowerShell commandlets or Bash scripts that take care of what are going to be the common, repetitive tasks you don't want to run manually all the time.
For example, on my Debian webserver at home, I have a bash script that I run that runs apt update and then apt list --upgradeable and have the result of that sent to my local mailbox to see if I have any important updates I need to attend to. By using a Bash script and a cron job, I took some of the rules I need to adhere to (keep your system updated, always apply security patches), and using skills I have acquired over the years I set up automation to make my life easier (and yes, I have always been a video gamer, I played the Oregon Trail on the Apple ][e when it first came out, I was in 2nd or 3rd grade at the time).
I may not be the best at any given task, but I understand how thinking outside the box can solve a problem, and I feel like I have my lifelong hobby of playing video games to thank for that.