Jane McGonigal on Business and Books
September 17, 2015
We wrap up our residency with Jane McGonigal with questions we ask every author about business and books.
"Most of
the world's social ills—unemployment, obesity, climate change, chronic stress
that makes families less resilient—would be most effectively addressed by
adopting at maximum a 30-hour work week. So how do we get there?"
—Jane McGonigal
We now come to our final day with Jane McGonigal, author of Superbetter: A Revolutionary Approach to Getting Stronger, Happier, Braver and More Resilient—Powered by the Science of Games, where we find out what business problem she wants to solve, what books have had the greatest impact on her, and what she is currently reading.
800-CEO-READ: What is the one unanswered question about business you are most interested in answering?
Jane McGonigal: What will it take to get back to a universal 20- or 30-hour work week? Every study that has ever looked at work hours has determined that a 20- or 30-hour work week (paid at a full-time living wage with benefits) improves productivity, worker health and happiness, civic participation, and the stability of family life in the community. It even improves environmental impacts and decreases unemployment. The New Economics Foundation wrote a very provocative white paper on how most of the world's social ills—unemployment, obesity, climate change, chronic stress that makes families less resilient—would be most effectively addressed by adopting at maximum a 30-hour work week. So how do we get there?
8cr: What book has influenced your work the most?
JM: Finite and Infinite Games by the religious scholar James Carse, The Myth of Sisyphus by the existential philosopher Camus, and The Grasshopper: Games, Life and Utopia by the philosopher of play Bernard Suits.
8cr: What is the book you wish you had written (or admire the most) and why?
JM: Most recently, The Biology of Desire: Why Addiction is Not a Disease by Marc Lewis. It does a tremendous job of explaining the neuroscience of motivation and desire, which I think is important to anyone designing technology or user experiences today. So often we try to get users "addicted" to our products or services, even though no one would say that being addicted to something is a good thing. Game developers struggle with this dilemma all the time. This book does a wonderful job of explaining how addictive behaviors can be reshaped into a more positive form of motivation, goal-setting and resilient behavior.
8cr: What book are you reading right now?
"We try to get users "addicted" to our products or services, even though no one would say that being addicted to something is a good thing. Game developers struggle with this dilemma all the time. [The Biology of Desire: Why Addiction is Not a Disease] does a wonderful job of explaining how addictive behaviors can be reshaped into a more positive form of motivation, goal-setting and resilient behavior."
