Ginger:
At 23:57 15/01/1996 -0700, you wrote:
>This brings me to my real passion and what I'm MOST curious about. Many
>business organizations today are running scared from or charging head
>first at their "competition." Americans are obsessed with "competition."
>Yet, I believe one elemental instinct we have written deep in our minds is
>to survive. And species don't survive when they compete amongst
>themselves. But in order to survive, we need to learn the tools of
>cooperation. And that's what I see as the potential for learning
>organizations. They will move us from competition toward cooperation and
>the process must begin with our educational institutions. For the best
>piece of work on this subject I've seen to date, check out _No Contest;
>The Case Against Competition_ by Alfie Kohn. Well researched and almost
>too well thought out. If anyone has additional references, please send
>them to me.
First, welcome to the forum. Second, I would like to submit a game that
has been very successful in getting participants to recognize the elements
you mention above. [Disclaimer: I have no fiduciary interest in the firm
providing the game.]
The game, called "The Search for the Lost Dutchman's Mine," is a exercise
to assist organizations and individuals develop their awareness of, and
ability to, collaborate toward achieving a common organizational goal.
Essentially, teams need to work together to mine gold. They have
sufficient but not excessive resources and have information available that
will allow them to collaborate, share resources, and mine as much as they
can. The goal is to maximize ROI and to work together. The reality is
that they tend to compete, withhold information and resources from each
other and sub-optimize group results so that one of the teams may "win".
It isn't about winning and it isn't about competition -- it's about
quality and systems and collaboration.
The Dutchman teamwork training exercise is amazingly effective, and
consistent in its results with groups of all sizes. It has been used with
great success with groups from 24 to 600 people at all levels of
organizations, with for-profit and non-profit firms, with entire
companies, or with boards of directors, with English, bilingual, and
Spanish speaking peoples. The exercise is remarkable in its ability to be
run with a small staff, yet achieve incredibly consistent results. Other
colleagues who have run the game say session participants discover:
1. Teamwork/collaboration is the winner whether you're on a team or not.
2. Effective leadership requires a clearly defined common goal, and that
everyone in the group must understand their role in achieving that goal.
3. Communications and planning/managing information is critical.
Participant Educational Levels and Understanding the Exercise
Dutchman was designed to be useful for groups where literacy and math
levels are low. Simple in language, it uses symbols and illustrations in
the presentation, delivery and debriefing to address shortcomings in
reading abilities. The game is cross-cultural and, as it has low literacy
and math demands, works at all levels of the organization, and can be used
both for learning (Organizational Development) efforts as well as
"events."
It works as well with business men in Asia as with children in the US. It
works in diverse organizations such as the Hong Kong Government (and
Education Departments), the Singapore Education Ministry, IBM, Allied
Signal, American Airlines, Sears, Jardines, J. Walter Thompson, Thomson
Consumer Electronics, United Technologies, Emerson Electric and many
colleges and universities.
It's a very effective training and facilitation tool. The game is
remarkable in its adaptability to specific needs. It can even be
delivered to a firm multiple times with good effect. Prior attendees are
not listened to by their teammates (which makes for a good lesson in
patience) and they watch their good advice go unheeded. The intent of the
game can be changed, or the amount of gold required can be significantly
increased.
Dutchman works well with 50 to 150 people in an exercise -- 60 seems
almost ideal -- although it's been successfully done with as few as 24 and
as many as 600. (If one is using it on smaller groups -- say ten - then
the teams must be broken down into smaller numbers in order to create the
inevitable competition.) It takes 2 to 3 hours, and so makes a great
morning event prior to an afternoon retreat, etc. It can also be a great
opener to a planning retreat to raise great questions for discussion.
It's very easy to be a participant, and even the normally reserves find it
appealing.
We use a number of "Release Agents" of props in our sessions and so this
type of gaming analogy is a natural growth for us. If this sounds
attractive to you, I can pass along the source via e-mail.
-- Best regards, Gordon Housworth Intellectual Capital Group ghidra@mail.msen.com Tel: 810-626-1310