Wordle - The Cheapest Way to Futureproof Your Workforce
by Julia Freeland
Could playing a simple game help your people thrive in uncertainty and change?
Worried about the upheaval all around that is wreaking havoc on your team’s ability to perform?
Wishing there was an easy way to build team morale in this virtual world and help your people thrive in change?
There are many ideas I would recommend — this is my area of passion and work — but there are none cheaper and easier to do than…
Play Wordle with your team.
Here is why:
The traits your team will build while playing Wordle are critical to their capacity to thrive in uncertainty and ambiguity.
Check this out:
1) Curiosity
To thrive in uncertainty, it is important to believe that there are possibilities you currently can’t see.
How does Wordle help?
While there aren’t infinite possibilities in this game, there are certainly many situations when there are more possibilities than I can think of. (So frustrating to know some of the solution and not be able to figure out the answer!)
2) Humility
If you expect perfection, the chances of you feeling comfortable when life upends you are slim. Embracing your fallibility daily will help you stand up faster tomorrow.
How does Wordle help?
Being stumped by a five-letter word is on par with a kindergartner beating you at just about anything. Being undone by a small little game and coming face to face with your own blindness is a great dose of daily humility.
3) Growth Minded
To thrive in ambiguity and uncertainty, you have to be willing to be flat out wrong so you can test wild ideas that can serve as a bridge to something better.
How does Wordle help?
If you get too focused on beating your team-mates, you can miss the signs telling you to choose a different strategy. Sometimes a sacrificial move to eliminate more letters is a much better choice than thinking you are going to be the lucky one to guess it right this time around.
4) Awareness
Navigating change successfully requires the ability to look for patterns and information on many different levels, looking beyond the surface of a situation.
How does Wordle help?
Whether it’s being frustrated or pumped because you lost or won, or realizing that community is being built by playing a game that levels the playing field, it’s easy to see how little things can have a big impact.
5) Inclusion
Research has shown again and again that the more diverse the ideas, the more likely an improved outcome will be reached. The key to diversity of thought is inclusion.
How does Wordle help?
Practicing looking to see if all on the team have responded before talking / texting in such a way that may ruin it for others or encouraging others to play is a small example of inclusive behavior.
6) Team Connection and Appreciation
When you see your teammate can do something easily that you struggled with, the level of respect for the talents of another tends to increase.
How does Wordle help?
Whether noticing a teammate’s cheerleading, eloquent vocabulary, community building nature, ability to laugh at themselves, or shocking ability to send just the right gif at the right time, Wordle is a simple way to increase awareness of each other and build a sense of team appreciation.
While these aren’t all the traits your team needs to build, it is certainly a GREAT start! Looking for more help and ideas?
Want to know how people can thrive in change?
Let's Talk!