Stop Gamifying, Start Diagnosing

Gamification doesn’t fix engagement. It treats the symptom, not the cause.

Most L&D teams treat “low engagement” like the disease.

It’s not. It’s a symptom.

Here’s the messy reality I keep seeing:

• Learners aren’t “unmotivated” - Their manager isn’t making space.

• Completion isn’t “low” - The program isn’t earning its time back in their job.

• Feedback isn’t “bad” - The course is solving a problem nobody actually has.

A lot of L&D work today is like repainting a car with engine trouble.

It looks better.

It still won’t move.

🩺 When I audit programs, I use a simple diagnostic that acts like a doctor’s checklist:

• Symptom: What are we observing? (drop-offs, low scores, silence)

• Context: Where does this sit in the learner’s week?

• Value test: What task for the learner gets easier in 7 days?

• Friction: What’s the smallest thing that is blocking action?

• System reality: Manager incentives, workload, tool access, culture

💡 Symptoms are data. They are not the diagnosis.

If your program has “low engagement”, stop prescribing new features. Start diagnosing the root cause.

💬 What symptom do you keep getting asked to “fix” right now?

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📩 If you want a quick diagnosis of what's actually broken in your training, that's exactly the kind of work I do with clients at Field. Let's chat!