TETRIS teaches Daily Accountability

Play Tetris to Set-up your mind for Daily Check-in Meetings

We cannot say which is more dreaded, anxiety caused by the relentless nature of the block-stacker Tetris or the anxiety felt when peppered with unanticipated questions at the daily huddle meeting. Consider using Tetris as a training ground “to think on your feet” and “to deal with what you can do.”

When Tetris debuted, rules were not yet written for this game.

Tetris presents a piece and you have to fit it into your tableau that is already succumbing to the forces of entropy. When you have a “left hand z” and you really need “right hand L”, those are the times that you decide: “find a spot for it and use the next piece to deal with it.”

This is a situation not unlike project management. For every evening when you go home with a clear desk and the hope that the project is finally “on track”, there is a morning where the project presents a new problem “we have never seen before.” Having a mind that quickly explores options can help.

• Put the Piece to the side: What can we do right away to contain this problem?
• Find a less problematic placement: What can we do to make things better?
• Identify a future piece: What can we do in the future?

When you don’t Win at Tetris, Tetris gets you into Winning shape.

Tetris is like the Terminator:

• It never gives up.
• It never gets tired.
• It will always win.

The relentless nature of the game purifies the mind as it is stressed to its limits.

I had always thought that the game was some sort of subversive reminder of the defeatist attitude from the old USSR. Three decades later, I understand the game to represent Hope.

Every time the game defeated me, I had hope that I could win the next round because:

• “I know more now.”
• “I will be smarter next time.”
• “I won’t let that happen again.”

Rule book

Read the Graphic Novel cum biography by Box Brown, Tetris.

Official Tetris web site