Continuing the "World of Warcraft is a great place to learn about the future of work" idea thread that I've been exploring here and here, John Seely Brown and Douglas Thomas have written tasty little article in Wired called You Play World of Warcraft? You're Hired!. Here's an excerpt:
It's learning to be - a natural byproduct of adjusting to a new culture - as opposed to learning about. Where traditional learning is based on the execution of carefully graded challenges, accidental learning relies on failure. Virtual environments are safe platforms for trial and error. The chance of failure is high, but the cost is low and the lessons learned are immediate.
Want to live a more innovative existence? Continue to push yourself to be a more proficient design thinker? Well -- where are you living an experiment that exposes you to new modes of being, new ways of thinking, new behaviors and people?
