To kick off Sekurokon 2024, Sekuro CEO Noel Allnutt made a light-hearted yet insightful keynote speech, extracting lessons on leadership from the development of classic video games, from Pac-Man, to Super Mario.
Noel began by defining leadership as not just a job title, but about “who you are, what you do and the principles you take into life”.
“Whether you're navigating through some hardship; onto the next growth phase of your life; leading a sports team or a business team; the principles and guidance that you can impart as a leader fundamentally can see you achieve the next level of success but also make you a great friend, great parent, and great colleague.”
Read on and learn gaming-inspired leadership tips.
PACMAN
Pac Man
Leadership Lesson
Pac-Man ghosts had different personalities. Winning at Pac-Man involved being familiar with the enemies, what was right in front of them, and what was coming at them, how they could combat them and get those strategies to succeed.
Leadership is knowing your competition and ultimately knowing your enemy and who’s against you, knowing your adversaries.
The game format of Pac-Man arose from the desire to create something that was designed for everyone to play, instead of the violent, male-targeted games that were in the market of the time.
A focus on inclusion is one key to a wider reach, and therefore success.
The designer of Pac-Man was inspired to design the iconic character when eating pizza and noticed the shape in front of him.
By being present and being mindful and observant, inspirations and ideas will surface.
Super Mario Bros
Super Mario Bros
Leadership Lesson
Mario is never seen without his brother Luigi, and his team of supporting characters. Ultimately, the Super Mario games show a sense of teamwork and camaraderie.
The teams that we choose today ultimately define us. We are an example of the people who we choose to be around us. And taking that teamwork into life and into business is something that all leaders can really strive to achieve.
Mario was originally a carpenter, but his back story was changed to a plumber to sync with the pipes that he goes in and out of.
Adaptability has to happen from the leaders.
It doesn’t matter where you started, it matters where you’re going.
Crash Bandicoot
Crash Bandicoot
Leadership Lesson
Sega Mega Drive had Sonic the Hedgehog. PlayStation didn’t have an equivalent yet.
The developers took a step back and created a character that people will buy into and believe their story – the result was Crash.
Wherever we are as leaders and whatever we’re trying to achieve, we have to make sure that we have the right story and we can really focus on taking that narrative to the next level if people believe in what we’re trying to achieve.
PlayStation was the first console that optimised graphics for gaming outside of PC gaming.
Crash Bandicoot used the power of the chips inside PlayStation in order to create and take the risk on the first 3D game. To this day, PlayStation is still the highest-grossing selling console of all time.
Take risks, think differently, and use the power of the assets that you have; and embrace the risk that people may not buy in.
tetris
Tetris
Leadership Lesson
Tetris and the Game Boy was the original hardware and software bundle. It’s Tetris which gets the credit for selling millions and millions of Game Boys worldwide from that affected bundling.
Collaboration with other players can lead to a winning strategy for everyone.
NBA Jam
NBA Jam
Leadership Lesson
NBA Jam uses pressure to elevate the game experience, with shot clocks and anxiety-inducing music.
The pressure that we have in leadership regardless of who we are leading is often what defines us. It’s that extra level of stress that we learn to deal with and leverage in our favour, which can really help people take their leadership to the next level.
If you played the Chicago Bulls, you could never win a match against the Detroit Pistons. It was only revealed much later that one of the developers coded into the game that every time Detroit Pistons played Chicago Bulls, Scotty Pippin’s stats went down by 50% and all of their players ran 10% slower.
Be careful around your supply chain and account for the possibility of insider threats.
Donkey Kong
Donkey Kong
Leadership Lesson
The game creators called their character Donkey Kong which became a hit. But at the same time, Universal Studios, which was a behemoth of the media industry at the time, had just created King Kong.
The game creators stood for what they believed in and went through the courts with Universal Studios; it’s still one of the highest grossing games of all time because the founders stood for something and they backed what they believed in and really got behind it.
Everyone needs to stand for something – your personal values and your company values – because if we don’t stand for something, we stand for nothing.
When you’ve got a purpose around something, your purpose really defines what’s important to you.
Watch the full keynote below:
Noel Allnutt
CEO, Sekuro
Noel is a driven and award-winning IT leader. He specialises in building teams that enable companies to create a secure and sustainable competitive advantage in the digital economy. Noel also hosts the ‘Building Resilience Podcast,’ which explores the world of sport and deconstructs the tools and ethos of world-class athletes that can help create growth and optimise business and life.
