3pointD.com

IBM exec Linda Sanford gave a big shout-out to “the gaming generation” today at the Supernova conference in San Francisco. Sanford, a senior vice president of IBM’s internal On Demand Transformation and Information Technology initiatives, talked about some of the principles of innovation that IBM has been using to guide its business recently. In mentioning where new leadership may come from, Sanford talked about “the need to tap into the creative minds of gamers and apply that in the work world. I can imagine phenomenal effects if we’re able to do that,” she said. Sanford gave the examples of Second Life and EverQuest II as places from which tomorrow’s leaders could emerge. “Gamers are bringing a whole new set of skills to the table,” she said. “Games — the really good ones — have an inherent level of education they’re providing. You learn as you play; you’re either going to master it, or be dead trying.”

Sanford urged business leaders to think about how workplace education gets done, and to consider that games like SL or EverQuest may provide excellent models. She also touched on the growing importance of reputational capital, mentioning that college students now sometimes put their eBay trust mark on their CVs, and of fostering a collaborative environment that connects people inside and outside an organization, and offered the thought that “traditional employer-employee relationships are going to be antiquated based on what we’re seeing today.” Especially if they involve Ray Davies. IBM has apparently interviewed the Kinks’ singer about the process of inspiration and creativity. Sanford related a story Davies told about a woman in his neighborhood who occasionally walked backwards up the street in order to give herself a fresh view of the world. So: to find the future leaders of America, look for avatars walking backward through Second Life.