7 Lessons the Public Sector Can Learn from Pokemon Go

The world’s most popular mobile gaming app holds some excellent lessons for any ambitious public organization, writes former California Office of Technology Services chief Davood Ghods.

You may have heard about a little global phenomenon called Pokemon Go, which allows Pokemon fans young and old to “travel across the land, searching far and wide” for virtual creatures to capture and train. It’s made a massive splash across the Internet, good and bad — here accolades about the increased exercise and interpersonal interaction the app encourages, there dark warnings about people trespassing on military bases and causing car accidents. Whether you personally are seeking to become a Pokemon Master or just wishing that teenagers would stop climbing your fence in pursuit of an Oddish, Pokemon Go has some excellent lessons for any ambitious public organization.

1. Make your services accessible and intuitive.

Pokemon Go is free to anyone with a smartphone, and an industrious GIS team ensures that Pokemon are liberally sprinkled around the world. Consumers prioritize ease of use when procuring a service, which is something all organizations strive to improve. Whether it’s automating payments, making forms available for submission online or sending real-time text notifications to people waiting at the DMV, there are myriad ways to make public services more intuitive, useful and accessible to more citizens. Consider: What can an organization do to become something that people are as excited to use as Pokemon Go?

2. Do the legwork to collect your data.

Successful Pokemon Go players are the ones who are willing to go the distance — literally. It takes a lot of walking to catch 'em all, but the reward is worth it. Similarly, the most valuable thing your organization can capture is information about your customers. Be willing to go out and interact with the people you serve, learn about what they’re looking for, and analyze local and national trends; this will give your org the information it needs to achieve its goals. Alternatively, work smarter — not harder — and pay a vendor to bring the data to you … kind of like the Pokemon Go players who pay people to capture and train Pokemon for them while they are at work.

3. Capitalize on surprising things that no one has thought of.

Just days after its release, Pokemon Go stopped being just a game and became a business influencer. Clever minds found ways to turn the augmented-reality app into something that actually augments reality. For example, sales at a New York pizza place surged after they spent $10 to “lure” Pokemon (and, subsequently, the trainers who seek them) to the restaurant. In Seattle, Harborview Medical Center is using the app to augment the treatment of young burn patients, by airing out their wounds and keeping their minds off the pain. And T-Mobile provides free data to Pokemon Go players who download the T-Mo Tuesday app. Consider how you can leverage unexpected events or opportunities to find a solution to your agency’s needs, and brainstorm processes that will allow your team the flexibility to take advantage of the opportunity should it appear.

4. Don’t rely on only one strength — the masters are well rounded.

Throughout Pokemon’s storied (and well merchandised) history, the most successful players have been the ones that take the time to carefully round out the types of Pokemon they use and train each creature equally. Trainers who train only one type of Pokemon soon lose to someone who is prepared against that type’s weaknesses; those who train a single mighty Pokemon without bothering to fortify the other ones find that their inexperienced backups can’t rise to the occasion when plans go awry. Learn the lesson, and avoid over-reliance on one aspect of your org. It’s good to be a specialist in your field, but having depth and diversification throughout an agency are critical to achieving goals — and averting disaster.

5. Speed and agility can prevail over size and strength.

Sometimes it seems like most public entities reside in the shadow of a few giant organizations. The smaller agencies just don’t have the massive budget, prestige and sway of the bigger ones. However, size isn’t everything. In Pokemon Go, a battle’s winner isn’t necessarily the person who has the biggest collection and the most experience. It’s often the agile, strategic challenger who turns up victorious. Why? Established people (and organization) can become complacent. They don’t have to be nimble and strategic to be successful. But this is why great innovations can come from smaller sources (e.g., Apple, HP): With fewer people, they can be more agile and welcoming of new opportunities. With less hierarchy, faster decisions can be made and executed. This is true in Pokemon Go too: To catch the Pokemon, you don’t have to be the biggest person. You just have to be quick.

And if you work for a large organization: In business books, the incomparable “they” say to think like a small business. Consider how you can balance your size and strength with the speed and agility of a smaller entity. If you can enable the kind of flexible, strategic thinking and acting that large-scale government sometimes precludes, imagine what your org could accomplish.

6. Always seek improvement — but don’t lose your roots.

Pokemon has been a pop culture and technological success since its advent 20 years ago. Part of this persistent popularity lies in the company’s ability to create new products and services while sticking to its original theme. For example, generation after generation of Nintendo games have been released, each providing some new treat — new Pokemon, new ways to connect to other players, improved graphics and now the ability to actually play the first-person role of the trainer in Pokemon Go — but the gameplay and player journey are essentially the same. Balancing comfort (and nostalgia) with improved features and services is a goal every organization can aspire to achieve.

There are two lessons here: First, even when your business plan works perfectly, actively seek to improve it. Second, remember where you came from and why your customers value you. Don’t turn them off by going wildly off-book for novelty’s sake.

7. Preparation is imperative.

When Pokemon Go began its global rollout, it was after years of careful design, testing and advertising. But there was a major flaw: The servers were completely overwhelmed by the demand of players downloading and using the app. Thousands of users were unable to login or experienced glitches and crashes, to the point where Pokemon Go halted the launch until they could catch up. This illuminates one of the most important aspects of any org: contingency planning. Make a point to brainstorm every possible outcome of a decision or project, develop a plan to combat any foreseeable complication, and train your team in emergency protocols. And remember, using Pokemon Go’s example: Disaster preparedness is essential, but it’s also important to develop contingency plans for unanticipated success. Don’t be caught by surprise when your project meets overwhelming popularity — be ready to capitalize further on it and enjoy your success fully.

Pokemon Go is only a month old, but its influence has already spread to all corners of the world. Apply these seven lessons to your organization, learn from Pokemon’s success, and lead the way for the public sector’s continued improvement, modernization, service and success.