Don't focus on "achievement unlocked"

Issue 135: Avoiding the grind to focus on outcomes in video games (and in life)

Mar 19

When the Xbox 360 came out in 2005, it unveiled a rewards system so iconic it birthed a phrase that became a cultural phenomenon: achievement unlocked. For those who don't play video games, the concept of achievement unlocked is a reward system. The achievements might be milestones based on the game experience and can get sophisticated based on the type of game it is. For example, playing a simple game might reward you for playing the first level or completing the tutorial. Other games, such as role-playing games or first-person shooters might have an achievement system. An example of this is completing certain bounties or quests in a day or mastering a certain weapon to unlock more achievements.

A list of other examples of achievements unlocked (generated by Chat-GPT):¹

First-Person Shooter (FPS): In the game "Call of Duty: Modern Warfare," you can earn an achievement called "The Ultimate Sacrifice" by completing the campaign on Hardened or Veteran difficulty without dying or using checkpoints.
Role-Playing Game (RPG): In the game "The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim," you can earn an achievement called "Master Criminal" by getting a bounty of 1000 gold in all nine holds.
Sports: In the game "FIFA 22," you can earn an achievement called "The Good and the Bad" by achieving a grade of A+ for attacking and defending in a single squad battles match.
Platformer: In the game "Super Mario Odyssey," you can earn an achievement called "All Power Moons" by collecting every Power Moon in the game.
Puzzle: In the game "Tetris Effect: Connected," you can earn an achievement called "T-Spin Triple Master" by performing 100 T-Spin Triple maneuvers.
Racing: In the game "Forza Horizon 5," you can earn an achievement called "Pied Piper" by leading a convoy of at least six cars for a total of 10 miles.
Fighting: In the game "Mortal Kombat 11," you can earn an achievement called "Master of Time" by performing 25 different Flawless Blocks during a match.
Adventure: In the game "Assassin's Creed Valhalla," you can earn an achievement called "Equine Attack" by assassinating an enemy from your horse.
Survival: In the game "The Long Dark," you can earn an achievement called "The Will to Live" by surviving for 500 consecutive days in Survival Mode.

I've been playing Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (CoD) quite a bit as my new casual game. Don't judge. I know it's like playing a Michael Bay movie and I'm okay with it. CoD has a lot of achievements in the season and daily. As a Type A and stubborn person, I always try to unlock all my achievements. While gaming, I thought this was quite an interesting metaphor for growing as a practitioner in one's craft and developing in your career. Despite my going after every achievement in video games, I'm going to tell you why you should avoid this mentality in your craft as a designer, entrepreneur, or builder.

Focus on the outcome, not the achievement itself

Work and manage towards outcomes. A saying this simple is difficult to master. We often get caught up on the achievement, and the feature, and as a result, we can deviate from the "why" and desired end result. Remember why you play the game.

Have you ever experienced a struggle with something when you put too much emphasis on it? I remember a barista friend of mine giving me a tiny pro tip about carrying a coffee cup and saucer. She told me to not look at the coffee and keep walking toward the seat instead. If you start putting too much focus on trying not to spill your coffee, you'll indeed spill it. It worked! Putting too much focus on each and every step gets in the way of fluidity toward what you want to achieve whether it's not spilling your coffee or getting promoted to the next level.

Achievement grinding often results in worse performance

When I was a kid, I would eat all my vegetables first before taking on the main course. I wanted to get the unpleasantries over with so the final memory of the meal is the delightful entree. It turns out this habit followed me when gaining achievements in video games. I pick the achievements I despise the most to get it out of the way.

In Destiny, there is an achievement that is unlocked by getting a certain amount of Hand Cannon kills in The Crucible (their version of deathmatch). Bungie, the makers of (the good) Halo games named their heavy pistol class (presumably) after the scene in Pulp Fiction. I hate the Hand Cannon, so any time that bounty comes up, I spend the entire session trying to complete the achievement so I can get it out of the way. As a result of this, I'm using a weapon I hate using (and am bad at) in suboptimal situations. I do so much worse than I usually do because of my hyper-focus on a specific goal. If the desired outcome is to be a good teammate and win as many multiplayer matches, then I'm not helping.

Diversify achievements naturally

Oddly enough, I unlock more achievements when playing video games when I don't think about it. I have a sense of what incentives I want to work on, but I'm not trying to unlock achievements like I eat my vegetables. It turns out that being aware of your goals and spreading them out results in higher performance than the one achievement at hand. If your goal is to level up as a software engineer, you can have multiple skills and competencies you're continuously working on.

Have fun and win

The moral of this post is not that achievements are bad. In fact, they're fun, and great incentives, and once you unlock them, it feels great. Whether it’s your professional goals or playing a videogame, I hope you unlock all the achievements you set. Make sure you take time to enjoy the journey and focus on the desired outcome. Your legacy is not the number of achievements you unlocked, it’s enjoying and beating the game. Have fun!

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