From classic board games such as “Trivial Pursuit”, to iconic television game shows such as “Jeopardy” and “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire”, most people love the mental challenge and exhilaration of participating in trivia contests.

Trivia game shows are irresistible opportunities to test our intellectual prowess and demonstrate knowledge. However, while most people consider trivia a hobby or a playful way to pass idle time, trivia can be far more than just fun and games. It can, in fact, foster the kind of breakthrough thinking that can take a company from good to great or, from failing to wildly successful.

Exemplifying an exciting new trend, many forward-thinking companies are now turning to revolutionary new methods and programs that are based on the art, science, and educational aspects of trivia, to help employees and the business at large unleash and capitalize on their full cognitive potential. A wise strategy, since use of trivia has been proven to unlock the potential of the human mind, thereby improving mental performance and enhancing creativity. Research suggests that the engagement and excitement produced by trivia games is directly related to cognitive and brain development.

Here are five ways trivia can make employees smarter and mobilize breakthrough thinking:

1. Improving cognitive skills by providing mental cross-training known as asymmetric thinking. By inspiring previously unexplored thought patterns, asymmetric thinking stimulates the brain to fire on more cylinders, thereby facilitating greater neuroplasticity that generates greater creativity, innovation, and problem-solving capabilities.
2. Exemplifying transformational play, seamlessly shifting participants to be more alert and receptive to useful information, thus accelerating the learning curve.
3. Facilitating better memory by increasing accessible intelligence. This is accomplished by exercising memory recall systems in the brain.
4. Building community through the sharing of common knowledge, serving as a unique social interaction and communication model.
5. Assisting in concept formation by providing targeted streams of information in a question and answer format, thereby dramatizing concepts by connecting the previously unconnected relationships between events and ideas. This leads to greater understanding of targeted subjects.

Transformational play

Transformational play is a powerful tool that employs the art of play to accomplish serious business. The transformational play mantra is, “Play first. Work better and achieve superior results.”

Therefore, the power of play should not be underestimated. With these benefits as a foundation, businesses and individuals can leverage strategically crafted trivia game to gain various critical business advantages. Among other distinct advantages, trivia can:

• Inspire innovation and facilitate creative ideation
• Expedite problem solving
• Promote team building and corporate culture development
• Enhance the development of leadership skills
• Increase productivity performance and growth
• Reinforce knowledge and clarify concepts
• Foster conversation and communication.

With multitude of benefits as a foundation, companies, employees, students and others can utilize trivia games to problem solve, inspire innovation, and become more productive.

In today’s rapidly changing and exceedingly competitive business environment, it is imperative to continually uncover new and inventive ways to stay ahead of the curve and, most importantly, not get left behind. To outperform the competition, breakthrough thinking is mission critical—the kind of out-of-the-box ideation that expands horizons and provokes epiphanies. The rewards realized from developing even one breakthrough idea can be immense. Indeed, the most successful company is the one that works smarter, not necessarily harder.

Every single employee at an organization is a potential diamond in the rough—possibly possessing latent ideas and visions that lay dormant, which represents an immense potential opportunity. The key challenge is tapping into that diamond mine to unearth hidden gems—those game changing ideas that propel companies to reach their highest potential.

Trivia, when presented in a compelling game show format strategically-designed for corporate training, can readily promote the power of cognitive thinking within a business to improve mental dexterity and efficiency among staffers. Trivia games can expand decision-making capabilities and accelerate progress by helping individuals knock down mental ‘walls’ and think more expansively. When aptly exploited, such breakthrough thinking yields extreme competitive advantages that drive organizations ahead of the curve and keep them there.