Dungeons and Dragons and business what do they have in common I hear you cry. Well it’s more than you think. Let’s get the basics out of the way. D&D is a tabletop game where a group of friends play as different characters to try to achieve a goal. It maybe liberating a town, slay a dragon or sneak past a sleeping monster to get to a treasure. How well a player does is determined by a roll of the dice (literally). Leading the session is a Dungeon Master (DM for short) who helps tell the story. Now I have been a both a player and a DM. Being on both sides I can’t help but notice some parallels between the D&D and the world of business. Let me share what I’ve found.
In Dungeons & Dragons everyone has a role
In D&D there are different classes: warrior, thief, healer, etc. In order for a party to get anywhere there has to be a mix of all kinds to make it work. This applies in business. For a project to get off the ground you have to have a Project Manager, a solutions analyst, a team who implements it, all working towards a shared goal, all are an important part of the puzzle and when working in unison are able to achieve anything they set their mind to.
D&D characters rely on each other for survival and when one character doesn’t play well with others, is selfish or thinks they’re more important than others then disaster strikes. Again this is no different than in business. The moment you think you’re more important you end up sabotaging your team and its chances for survival. At the end of the day I have found in both cases open communication and humility go a lot further in achieving what one needs to.
Be prepared for the unexpected
Let me give you an insight to one of my games I DM. I had setup an encounter with an evil knight that wanted to attack the party. I had assumed that they would tackle it as they always did together and make short work out of it. Instead one party member decided to challenge the knight to a 1 on 1 duel. This threw everything I had planned out of the window! I had to scramble to quickly rectify the situation and create an entertaining encounter.
In business we can prepare and plan however much we want but sometimes we just can’t account for everything. Who would have thought 2020 would end up being as crazy as it was? No one! All around the globe people scrambled to make sure their businesses stayed solvent in the face of an unprecedented pandemic. It is very rare in life to have everything go exactly the way you want to, but the best thing any of us can do is be able to adapt and change quick enough to make things work.
Communication is Important
I’ve mentioned it before but I really have to emphasise it again. Communication and respect is important. In this current climate D&D has become more than ever a theatre of the mind. s a result being able to communicate what your characters are doing or describing where your players are helps everyone. In business being able to clearly say what it is you want to do and how is more important than ever with people working remotely from home. Having a team discussion about how to solve a problem and respect all input in collaboration is where we get the best results. When team members feel like they have contributed then they are more invested going forward. By respecting everyone involved, their time and their energy you will reduce the conflict within the team in the long run.
There we have it, some of the things Dungeons and Dragons has taught me and how it can be applied to business. If you want more articles like this one then why don’t you check out our Blog page? We publish articles every week so it’s worthwhile following us on Facebook or checking back in with us regularly.
