The Serious Games Podcast

The Serious Games Podcast

Rediscover Learning. Work Smarter. Interviews with creators and facilitators of serious games, simulations and playful methods for interactive trainings, workshops and facilitation.

GLUCOSE

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Hanan Sabry designs conversation boards in Cairo, and GLUCOSE draws on Barbara Fredrickson's research on positive emotions: seven letters, seven emotions, and a die with only six faces, because everyone starts with gratitude. Mohnish Jadwani, a software developer, consultant and team coach, facilitates Hanan's games in Germany, where a spoken pledge creates safety before anyone shares. The reframe: Hanan sells the moderator training, not the boards, because a conversation this open is only as safe as the person holding the room.

"When we listen to one another, we find out that there's a lot of similarities, and then we're so humbled to understand humanity." – Hanan Sabry

"A sunshine token could be as simple as you're not alone. It's just three or four words. But somebody saying that to you could mean a lot to that person." – Mohnish Jadwani

Today's guests and their conversation boards


Referenced in the episode

  • Fredrickson, Barbara L. 1998. "What Good Are Positive Emotions?" Review of General Psychology 2 (3): 300–319. https://doi.org/10.1037/1089-2680.2.3.300. Core finding: positive emotions such as joy, interest, contentment and love broaden what a person momentarily thinks and does, which in turn builds lasting physical, intellectual and social resources.
  • Fredrickson, Barbara L. 2001. "The Role of Positive Emotions in Positive Psychology: The Broaden-and-Build Theory of Positive Emotions." American Psychologist 56 (3): 218–226. https://doi.org/10.1037/0003-066X.56.3.218. Core finding: the broaden-and-build theory puts positive emotions at the centre of positive psychology, and suggests that the capacity to feel them may be a fundamental human strength.
  • Fredrickson, Barbara L. 2009. Positivity: Groundbreaking Research Reveals How to Embrace the Hidden Strength of Positive Emotions, Overcome Negativity, and Thrive. Crown. ISBN 978-0-307-39373-9. Core finding: names ten positive emotions and argues that they widen our outlook and build lasting resources.
  • Rosenberg, Marshall B. 2015. Nonviolent Communication: A Language of Life. 3rd ed. PuddleDancer Press. Core finding: four components of every exchange, observations, feelings, needs and requests. One-page summary: https://www.nonviolentcommunication.com/pdf_files/4_components_of_NVC.pdf
  • de Geus, Arie. 1988. "Planning as Learning." Harvard Business Review 66 (2): 70–74. https://hbr.org/1988/03/planning-as-learning. Core finding: planning is institutional learning, the process by which management teams change their shared mental models. Mohnish read it in a Harvard Business Review collection on uncertainty and takes from it that experiences like these can speed up institutional learning.
  • Pausch, Randy. 2007. "Achieving Your Childhood Dreams." Lecture, Carnegie Mellon University, September 2007. https://jamesclear.com/great-speeches/achieving-your-childhood-dreams-by-randy-pausch. Core finding: dying of cancer, Pausch says he is having fun and will keep having fun every day he has left.
  • Baumeister, Roy F., Ellen Bratslavsky, Catrin Finkenauer, and Kathleen D. Vohs. 2001. "Bad Is Stronger Than Good." Review of General Psychology 5 (4): 323–370. https://doi.org/10.1037/1089-2680.5.4.323. Core finding: across everyday events, relationships and learning, bad events, emotions and feedback have more impact than good ones.


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