5 Leadership Lessons from Playing Angry Birds

Many of your friends may have moved on from playing Angry Birds. Silicon Valley millennials may being playing Dots, Minecraft, or Fruit Ninja. Maybe you don't play games on your smartphone. Maybe the idea of exploiting emotionally-charged birds to destroy green, so-called bad piggies, who are hiding in their homes and, presumably, minding their own business is repugnant to you. That Angry Birds is a game phenomenon having grown into a vastly popular brand is undeniable.

Angry Birds allows the player to use birds with specific skills to destroy a defensive structure inhabited by bad piggies. When all of the bad piggies are destroyed, the puzzle is solved and the player can go to the next level.

BUT, Angry Birds also gives you an opportunity to experience five important leadership lessons. At the beginning of each level, the player is given a team of birds with skills that are adequate for solving that particular puzzle. The birds are used in a pre-arranged order, much like a batting order in baseball.

What can Angry Birds teach you about leadership? First, a leader needs to understand the skills and key strengths of each team member. Not everyone can do the same things equally well. Learn what key strengths and talents your team members have to maximize the results.

Second, match the team to the problem at hand. In Angry Birds, you have to use the team you're given, but that team is designed to solve the problem. In real life, make sure you design your team with the skills necessary to address the problem.

Third, have a plan of attack. Take some time to study the problem and review the resources that are available to you. Make a plan - at least a high-level plan - about how to get started and how to best use the team.

Fourth, when necessary, adjust your tactics to match the skills that are available. A poor performance might create a need to adjust the expectations on other team members. An outstanding performance may present an opportunity to capitalize on a special situation. Using baseball as an example, say a batter strikes out, so the next batter up is instructed to to do something different than would have been the case if the previous batter had gotten on base. Or, maybe a batter hits a triple and now the manager sees a special opportunity to take advantage of the situation and uses the next batter's skills in a different manner.

Finally, be flexible enough to modify the plan when events don't proceed as you hoped they would. Strategy is planning, but tactics are dictated by circumstances. An especially strong, or weak, performance; or, an especially good or bad bit of luck can signal the effective leader to modify the original plan. Things may become easier than anticipated. Things may become more difficult than anticipated. Risk factors may be either heightened or lessened. The effective leader is flexible enough to see, understand, and act accordingly.