What is role-playing?
Role-playing is a technique that has long been used in learning, therapy, and entertainment, where the participants assume the “role” of different characters in different situational settings. A role-play combines context and characterization and puts the participant in a unique experiential position. Interacting with different characters has different consequences, which may motivate different actions. The multiplicity of characters in a role-play ensures that the interactivity is not only sustained but is also less predictable, thus enriching the experience. And it’s good business too—the Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game (MMORPG) industry is rumored to be worth about $450–675 million.
However, before we get ahead of ourselves, let’s revisit role-playing with a simple example.
Imagine that you are role-playing a character called Tom. Tom has some character attributes —he is twenty-three years old, an MBA who comes from a rich family with links to royalty. Tom also has a personality—he is a confident, fearless person who has the determination to see things through, and who is driven by certain motivations.Tom is determined to prove that he can succeed on his own and step out of the shadow of his father, a shipping tycoon. His motivation drives him to set certain goals. Launching his entrepreneurial venture in the next year is one of them. Taking the venture public within five years is another. Tom may have some resources with him—a $900,000 inheritance from an aunt who passed away recently.
In a typical role-play, Tom will interact with different characters, played by the other participants. Therefore, along with Tom, there may be Dick and Harry. Dick could be a 60-year- old venture capitalist, who sees in Tom the son he never had, and wants to mold him into a successful businessman. Harry might be Tom’s younger brother whose sibling rivalry with Tom leads him to launch an entrepreneurial venture of his own to compete with Tom’s.
Depending on the application—learning, therapy, or entertainment—and its objectives, the role-play can take different forms from here on. A class on entrepreneurship could take turns being Tom, Dick, and Harry and learn the different aspects of launching a start-up. People having problems with either authority figures or siblings might play the role of a Tom or a Harry. A bereaved father might be Dick. Or, it could all be a game where Tom—assisted by Dick—needs to get the better of Harry in the marketplace.