Beginner’s Guide to Gamification (8 of 90): Epic Meaning & Calling

*New to Gamification? Check out my post What is Gamification & the Gamification Framework: Octalysis*

Click here to see all videos in this Series

Episode 8: Core Drive – Epic Meaning & Calling

Finally completed Episode 8. In this episode, I show footage from San Francisco, Templeton, Barcelona, Lake Tahoe, Geneva, and more!

I also show a few footages about my Epic self.

Get mentored by Yu-kai Chou

Octalysis Prime Gamification

Every week I hop on a conference call to teach, answer questions, and give feedback to members of Octalysis Prime. If you want to take your Gamification practice to the next level, then come join us.

WOULD YOU LIKE YU-KAI CHOU TO WORK WITH YOUR ORGANIZATION?

If you are interested in working with Yu-kai Chou for a business project, workshop, speech or presentation, or licensing deal, please fill out the form below..

Please enable JavaScript in your browser to complete this form.
Name

23 thoughts on “Beginner’s Guide to Gamification (8 of 90): Epic Meaning & Calling”

  1. Saturday Morning thoughts:

    1. You’ve hooked me. I’m committed to at least four of these videos a day
    2. You have forced me to learn to better control my YouTube controls to catch your “word” of the episode

    and….

    3. Where can I get an Interactive Chart that I can start using??? I’ve been paying pretty close attention, but must have missed a link?

  2. I remember clearly the day I realized my calling to be a teacher. It was (and sitll is) EPIC! 🙂

  3. This is again 1 comment of 2016 =)) So Epic Meaning and Calling – reaaly is a funny thing to discover!
    Never thought that this is the way it could be called.
    And now, there are lots of memories coming back, when boys and girls started sharing some thoughts of new games (on PC and mobile) – when smb tells after Starcraft campaign finished “HA, We beat ZERGS and PROTOSS a couple of hours ago! We saved Terrans and our EARTH motherplanet!” or after MASS EFFECT 3 ending ” OMG… SHEPARD saved the galaxy, so glad to be a part of this EPIC” and etc – that says what Core Drive was activated there

  4. Thanks for the great examples of CD1 – Epic Meaning & Calling. It sounds like the onboarding phase is the best time to expose your audience to their epic meaning through narrative.

  5. Hi Yu-Kai,

    I’m really enjoying your videos! Thanks for sharing your knowledge in such a fun way.
    You’re giving me the courage to start designing my own games.

    Best wishes,
    Derrin

  6. About Beginner’s Luck, is not clear to me how can you use it are a general Technique.
    Should it be randomly generated, so it is really luck, or should you find a way to make it seem like the client have been lucky but in fact it just happens to everyone?
    Can you please provide more examples/techniques?

  7. Hey Yu-Kai,

    as you emphasize narratives as being the best way to communicate epic meaning and calling during onboarding, I wonder which alternives exist.

    1. Hey Tiffany,

      Yes, I regularly work with financial firms and insurance companies to gamify their core behavioral loops. For instance, my client Morf Media has been helping many financial and mortgage companies gamify their compliance training.

      At the end of the day, it depends on what are the Desired Actions you want to improve. I don’t have any “tips” to a whole industry, besides follow the principles of Octalysis and the 8 Core Drives. If the problem is more specific, I might be more helpful if I had time to address it properly.

  8. SDT, Self-determination theory is talked about as a theoretical motivation model by Deterding and others.  SDT asserts relatedness, autonomy and competence are three core human needs.  Looking at Epic meaning & calling it seem overlaps all three core needs.  Autonomy the drive to control outcomes relates to epic callings or a purpose in life.  Purpose is also talked about by Dan Pink who is closely associated to SDT theory.  Relatedness is associated with identifying w/other or groups, and competence, less so than the other two maybe, but being associated to a mastery achievement of an organization.  Just wanted your thoughts on SDT as it relates the epic identity.

    1. Joel – I am curious if you have completed your studies. I think, if you perform a few thought experiments of your own, that the three core human needs established within the SDT are not inclusive motivators for success/accomplishments, ergo they are not “Drives”. I agree they are Human needs, but there are several instances of “humans” existing without satisfaction of these needs and without noticeable tendencies towards these needs. The increased complexity of the Eight Disciplines model (or Ostalysis) supports a more nuanced approach to motivational factors. You may also want to peruse the 2004 paper in the Journal of Management by Meartz and Griffith, it more closely underpins Chou’s studies. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/211390569_Eight_Motivational_Forces_and_Voluntary_Turnover_A_Theoretical_Synthesis_with_Implications_for_Research

  9. Ok. First off long live Captain Planet. I watched that 20s way too many times! 😉
    Secondly, I don’t think that the hotel towels example is about people wanting to associate themselves with a group to uphold some higher ideal of sustainability or meaning. I don’t think it relies on anything to do with their ideals, but purely the innate human desire to follow the herd. Obvious message 75% of ppl do x. Doesn’t matter what x is, but the implication is that’s what’s “normal”. You want to be normal too right?? We are all sheep or lemmings, or well human. Is what psycologists call Social Proof http://www.babusinesslife.com/Ideas/Trends/social-proof.html

    1. startmyquest I agree with what you said, but point here is that by believing you are part of a “herd,” you are believing in something bigger than yourself, and therefore you subscribe to the accepted behavior of that herd.
      Now people ask whether this would be more considered “Social Pressure” which is Core Drive #5, but the answer is no, primarily because the “herd” would not know of the choice the person made. If whatever he does is published to everyone who stayed at that hotel room, then yes, there is a tremendous amount of social pressure. As in this case, it is just the patron’s internal belief of how he “should” behave.

      1. Thanks for replying so quickly. It’s an interesting distinction you draw there. I’m fascinated by relationship between core drive #1 and #5. There feels like there is something important in how people internalise social pressure or community habits so that they become part of their ‘meaning making’ and to what degree this is something that can be influenced directly.

      2. startmyquest Yes – sometimes it’s a combination of both. And yes I know this is super late X_X

      3. Excellent explanation yu kay! cause I was associating to cd5 too without even notice!. Looooooove your job keep doing it!

Leave a Reply to James DyerCancel reply