A new software trend is turning the painful chore of annual
employee reviews into something fun.  Yes, really.  It's called
social performance management—or, in a buzzword that's less
redolent of "Office Space"'s TPS reports, "gamification."
Gamification means adding game-like features—challenges, levels,
leaderboards, and badges—to work tasks.  Examples of companies
offering this software, inspired by video games and Facebook
apps, include Badgeville, Jam, Leaderboarded, NewsGator,
Work.com.  Mozilla, makers of the Firefox browser, even has a
free, open-source project called Open Badges.  The idea is
expected to storm the enterprise by next year. Some 70 percent
of the 2,000 largest businesses around the world will be
managing at least one “gamified” application or system by 2014,
market research firm Gartner predicts.  "Gamification offers
engagement and motivation techniques to rally opposing forces to
work toward collaborative goals," writes Gartner analyst Elise
Olding.  To be sure, gamification has bee