Guest Conversations and Highlights

Podcast Episode 161: Psychology Based Games – with Lauren Fitzpatrick Shanks

30th May 2022

3,611 views

3 min read

This Episode: `Psychology Based Games – with Lauren Fitzpatrick Shanks`

Lauren Fitzpatrick Shanks is an entrepreneur, award-winning engineer, tech leader, writer, mentor, wife, mother of two, former gymnast and the Founder and CEO of KeepWOL.

KeepWOL is a game-centric talent development platform focusing on the human elements of work that make or break organisations using multiplayer games, AI technology, and end-to-end learning integration. In this episode, Lauren talks about how this strategy can maximise cultural intelligence and build exceptional teams.

Key Takeaways

Even from an early age, we take on far more knowledge through play than we do through conventional means, such as relaying data and memorising.
We must ask questions that allow people to share what they want of themselves, rather than cornering them into revealing uncomfortable truths.
By allowing participants to provide contextual details, it promotes a sense of belonging, and also enhances empathy, vulnerability and emotional connection.
Curiosity, courage and connection are the keystones of the techniques and methodologies for facilitation.

Best Moments from ‘`Psychology Based Games – with Lauren Fitzpatrick Shanks`‘

‘We’re focussed on building relationships through play’

‘Conversation is a big piece of this’

‘Our games feature storytelling to elevate that human experience’

‘Build connection by having yourself be vulnerable so that others recognise that they too can be vulnerable’

About the Guest, `Lauren Fitzpatrick Shanks`

Lauren Fitzpatrick Shanks is an entrepreneur, award-winning engineer, tech leader, writer, mentor, wife, mother of two, former gymnast that still loves to flip, and avid conversationalist. She spent 14 years working at five Fortune 500 companies, holding various leadership roles in design, system testing, product creation, staffing, software program management, and operations. As a Black millennial woman in engineering & tech, she’s no stranger to breaking barriers and being the “first” or “only.”

Lauren is the first Black woman to graduate from The University of Kansas’ Aerospace Engineering Department and the first Black woman to win the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) international design competition. She’s a recipient of the Women in Technology Rising Star Award, and she has an MBA in Operations Management from the University of Scranton. She’s now the Founder and CEO of KeepWOL.

Lauren Fitzpatrick Shanks – https://www.laurenfitzpatrickshanks.com

About The Host

Lucinda Carney is a Business Psychologist with 15 years in Senior Corporate L&D roles. Lucinda also has a further 10 as CEO of Actus Software where she worked closely with HR colleagues helping them to solve the same challenges across a huge range of industries. Certainly, it was this breadth of experience that inspired Lucinda to set up the HR Uprising community to facilitate greater collaboration across HR professionals in different sectors, helping them to ‘rise up’ together.

“If you look up, you rise up”