Welcome to Dungeons and Dragons at Work! What is this all about? I’ve been playing roleplaying games since the 80’s and love the freeform storytelling that results. There is real joy to be found sitting round a table with your friends rolling dice and creating adventure. Over time I’ve observed that the skills I practice, running and playing these games port well into the real world.
I have a love of leadership and all things business. Working across small to multinational businesses, I see the same issues with leadership training across the board. It cant give you the experiences you need to improve. Resulting in me thinking about how to meld the roleplaying experience of D&D into a growth experience for individuals and teams. I believe Dungeons and Dragons at work can be used to practice leadership skills, give teams cohesion and experience high pressure in a safe environment.
Using D&D at Work
Our memory treats roleplaying experiences as being real. Giving us the perfect learning tool, where failure is acceptable. Recently, a number of practices have appeared using D&D as a tool to help with mental health issues. Therefore, it seems logical to use the same toolkit to develop leadership skills. Of course, teamwork is also a key part of the D&D experience. Why not use the game to foster this for new and existing teams? Having an experience of shared adversity, albeit in a game, could really foster team cohesion.
With roleplaying games entering a golden age, now is the perfect time to start exploring these concepts.
I hope you join me on this journey of exploration. Looking at the potential of using the magic of D&D at work to develop and foster teams and future leaders.
Quick Note on the Use of Dungeons and Dragons
Although Dungeons and Dragons is known as the most popular role-playing game, I am using the term loosely. When I’m referring to D&D I’m really encapsulating all forms of the game, including other role playing games and systems. They can all trace their heritage back to D&D and it’s founder Gary Gygax and so, in my opinion are all valid.
About Your Author
I’m a mad D&D fan who has run everything from horror one-shots to epic multi-year campaigns. I’m also a business leader in the environmental sector with experience across Europe, Australia, New Zealand and Asia. I’ve led teams in small business, start ups and large multi-nationals. This blog brings my two passions of leadership and roleplaying games together. Hopefully something beautiful emerges.
I have published a book on Business Development and pride myself on being a values-driven leader. You can find more on my professional website: www.tomwatkin.com If you’d like to get in touch please send me a message via LinkedIn or send me an email to tom@tomwatkin.com.