Chickens and Eggs, Leaders and Environments

his month's Harvard Business Review has a piece, "Leadership's Online Labs," that challenges the conventional wisdom of the origins of this character trait. Considered by most to be ingrained and at the very least taught with training and job experience, authors Byron Reeves, Thomas W. Malone, and Tony O'Driscoll argue the contrary. Online gaming environments reveal leaders in unexpected places and thus, they contend, a "startling implication: Getting the leadership environment right may be at least as important to an organization as choosing the right people to lead."

The argument is compelling insofar as it is supported by a thorough description of the online characteristics conducive to unconventional leadership. Via an avatar, which simultaneously creates a "psychological attachment" as well as the freedom to act through an "alter ego," online leaders exhibit three common behaviors: speedy decision-making, a willingness to take risks, and the adoption of fluid, temporary roles of leader and follower. Non-monetary awards granted by a leader to his followers, as well as the "hypertransparency" of information shared among all gamers make leaders more effective.

'Leadership's Online Labs.'
(Click for fair-use PDF, 2.7MB.)It has been a decade since I strung network cable throughout a friend's house and played Warcraft II into the wee hours, so perhaps my lack of true MMORPG experience fuels my skepticism of these online labs. Nevertheless, I argue that relying on a manufactured environment through which tomorrow's leaders will percolate contains two major caveats: the feasibility of creating the environment itself, and the potentially uncertain organizational prospects that arise when a crafted environment changes markedly.

More simply, could a WoW Guild Leader move at the speed of business?

How does the business world recreate the attachment and comfort of disconnected connectivity that avatars provide? The authors write, "passionate attachment, coupled with the ability to act through an alter ego, makes heated disagreements both common and accepted. An atmosphere of intense honesty develops that many players say gradually makes them less averse to group conflict." This acknowledged difference is more or less dismissed, but I think it is crucial to all downstream traits exhibited by online leaders. One must be comfortable in his element before thinking on the fly, taking risks, and changing roles. If one is uncomfortable without an avatar, he might not be fit to lead in the real world.

"Leadership demands speed," the authors write. Much like in business, consensus is not always reached, and as available data increase in breadth and depth, tomorrow's leaders must be quick on their feet. Quick decisions, of course, have their risks. The authors acknowledge the considerably higher stakes in business, though conclude that gaming environments train leaders to weigh odds "calmly in uncertain environments" and cultivate a culture that attempts, may fail, and re-attempt an objective, within reason. Defining "reason" in the business world, however, has always been a tricky proposition; I am unsure whether or not gaming environments aid in such a definition or compel businessmen to take greater, more rewarding risks.

Online gaming environments that allow for the final behavioral characteristic, fluid and temporary leadership, amidst unconventional leadership's supporting elements, non-monetary incentives and hypertransparency, much more easily than in the business world. To be sure, those involved in special projects across business functions with no structured manager often organically select leaders, or owners of specific group objectives. I myself work within such a group every day. Aside from confirming the importance of fluid and temporary leadership in certain situations, and much like quick decision-making processes and risk matrices, what new theory or definition do studies of online leaders create?

Coupled with the freedom of an avatar, an in-game economy and transparency of information set the stage for unconventional leaders. The authors offer a compensation scheme or two, and gloss over the difficulty of summarizing complex data that today demands a booming business intelligence industry. Upon numerous reads of the article, I'm left with a feeling of, "Yeah. So what?" I think a fundamental difference an online leadership experience might make is in such a structured environment, it creates confident future leaders willing to define a business environment where they previously would not have. The environment is not as essential as the authors contend, but perhaps creating more definers of future environments is.

What say you, G&P readers? Has anyone with MMORPG experience become a leader in other facets of their lives, independent of a friendly environment, when they otherwise would not have? I am interested in hearing your stories.