Method · Soft skills
Game Is Serious uses a curated O*NET skill library (24 workplace behaviours), not a Myers-Briggs-style type test. Managers pick three to five focus skills per rep. Deal IQ scores customer-facing beats. Team IQ scores inside-pod beats. Same library, different scenes, deterministic rubrics. Below is how we categorise skills, how episodes map to them, and why that matters for enablement evidence.
01 · Source
Our catalog draws from the U.S. Department of Labor O*NET database: observable behaviours like Active Listening, Persuasion, and Conflict Resolution. Each skill has a stable ID, a plain-language definition, and a group (Discovery, Influence, Drive, Judgment, Adaptability). We deliberately avoid inventing proprietary trait names that sound scientific but cannot be audited.
When a manager assigns focus skills on a learning path, those IDs flow into simulation config, debrief charts, and dossier exports. A rep sees the same vocabulary in Mirror, Deal IQ, Team IQ, and Transfer. That consistency is what makes cross-sim insights possible.
Situational fit beats self-report: we score what you did in the scene, not what you say you usually do.
02 · Five groups
Twenty-four skills sit in five groups. Managers rarely need the full list; they pick the three to five that match the rep's current deal or team craft gap.
Listening, analysis, and reading the room.
Active Listening · deep dive below
Critical Thinking
Analytical Thinking
Social Perceptiveness · deep dive below
Persuasion, negotiation, and relationship building.
Persuasion · deep dive below
Negotiation
Building Relationships
Empathetic Support
Service Orientation
Written Expression
Conflict Resolution · deep dive below
Persistence, initiative, and follow-through.
Persistence
Resilience
Initiative
Attention to Detail
Time Management
Decision quality, accountability, and coaching.
Decision Making
Decisive Judgment
Accountability · deep dive below
Objective Setting
Coaching · deep dive below
Flexibility, learning agility, and creative thinking.
Flexibility
Active Learning
Creative Thinking
O*NET: Active Listening
Giving full attention, understanding points being made, and asking questions as appropriate.
In Deal IQ, we tag listening on discovery beats against the buyer. In Team IQ Ep3 retro, the same skill ID scores forum scenes where peers vent. Cross-sim flags appear when customer fit is strong but team fit is mismatch.
O*NET: Social Perceptiveness
Being aware of others reactions and understanding why they react as they do.
O*NET: Persuasion
Persuading others to change their minds or behavior.
O*NET: Responsibility for Outcomes and Results
Taking ownership of work outcomes and results.
Team IQ Ep2 (The Spill) centres accountability: owning a mistake without blaming peers. James O'Brien's demo dossier shows high fit here while RheinMark deal axes still flag champion gaps.
O*NET: Coaching and Developing Others
Identifying developmental needs and helping others improve knowledge or skills.
O*NET: Resolving Conflicts and Negotiating with Others
Handling complaints, settling disputes, and resolving grievances.
03 · Training triangle
The same triangle applies to Deal IQ (buyer room) and Team IQ (inside pod). Snapshots diagnose. Full sessions train. Rematch or delta measures uplift.
01
Deal IQ snapshot or Team IQ snapshot on a single episode (often Ep3 retro). ~12–18 minutes. Surfaces gaps before live calls or pod friction.
02
Full Deal IQ cycle on a qualified account, or Team IQ arc slice (Season 1 pilot: four episodes). Beats are tagged to skills; rubrics are deterministic.
03
Repeat snapshot on the same scene type, or compare dossier axes week over week. Managers export evidence for QBRs, not vanity completion rates.
04 · Team IQ native axes
Psychological safety contribution, managing up, and peer trust repair are measured by peer and manager reactions in-fiction. They map to library proxies for path routing, but debrief copy names the native axis so coaches know what changed.
Psychological Safety Contribution
Peer openness after your beats in pod scenes.
Managing Up
Fit signals in manager 1:1 episodes.
Peer Trust Repair
Recovery after conflict beats, not avoidance.
Values-in-Action
Company values rubric on visible choices.
Feedback Reception
Response to coach and manager input in-fiction.
05 · Cross-sim
Because Deal IQ and Team IQ share focus skill IDs, dossiers can flag mismatches: e.g. strong Active Listening with buyers but mismatch scores when peers vent in a retro forum. That is coaching gold, not a flaw in the rep. It is why we run both simulations on the same enablement spine.
Is this a personality assessment?
No. We do not assign types or fixed traits. Focus skills are manager-selected behaviours for the current quarter. Scores reflect situational fit on tagged beats in simulation.
How many focus skills can a manager assign?
Three to five per person. Fewer than three lacks coaching signal; more than five dilutes debrief emphasis.
Who owns the rubrics?
Beat-level rubrics are deterministic (scoreBeat.ts), aligned to softSkillFrameworks.ts. LLMs narrate; they do not own scores.
Where does Team IQ fit vs Deal IQ?
Deal IQ trains qualification and buyer-facing judgement. Team IQ trains inside-pod craft: retro, 1:1, handoff, rumor beats. Same passport, different scenes.