Nikolai Usack Answers 3 Common Questions about Income|Outcome’s Approach to Financial Training
Published Date
A Board Game for Business Finance? Think Again.
How could a board game tackle a topic as serious and complex as business finance?
You already know that requiring financial training for employees can feel like pulling teeth. Financial lectures are “boring,” the subject matter is overwhelming, and employees in non-financial roles often assume they don’t need to master it. Many see finance as a mysterious department—a place where a few number-crunchers sit with calculators, generating budgets and regulations that make life harder for everyone else.
Surely finance isn’t for everyone, right?
Wrong.
Income|Outcome shatters these misconceptions with a radically different approach to financial training: an interactive business simulation—in the form of a board game.
Sounds silly? Think again.
This isn’t a glorified version of Monopoly. Over 100,000 professionals worldwide have experienced the I Income|Outcome business acumen program. It’s available in 12 languages for in-person workshops (and can be customized for any language online). Clients include Fortune 500 companies like Michelin and Hewlett-Packard, as well as top business schools such as Texas A&M, Purdue, and Berkeley’s Executive MBA programs.
Below are three frequently asked questions about what makes Income|Outcome so powerful.
1) What sets this apart from other financial training programs?
First, let’s talk about what this simulation isn’t.
It’s not a boring lecture. Participants may have taken finance courses before, but when they walk into an Income|Outcome workshop, they immediately notice that there’s no PowerPoint presentation or Excel workbook in sight.
It’s also not a throwaway exercise or a thinly disguised finance lecture. This is a completely different experience.
Income|Outcome is low-tech, high-touch. Participants are actively engaged within minutes. There’s no element of chance—no dice, no random cards—so every movement and result is entirely driven by the decisions teams make.
Almost immediately, participants begin to connect the dots between what’s happening in the game and what happens in their real jobs. They see how financial literacy isn’t just a useful skill—it’s a competitive advantage that makes them more valuable to their organization.
2) So why is it so effective?
Initiating real change is always a challenge. Even when employees are open to learning, they’re busy—and attention spans during traditional training are short. Even when they pay attention, retention rates are low.
We believe that a little bit of struggle leads to real learning. Think about the life lessons that have stuck with you the most—chances are, they came from challenging experiences rather than passive learning.
Think back to your first few weeks at a new job:
- You had to adapt quickly, learning company culture, processes, and terminology on the fly.
- You were intrinsically motivated to absorb information because success depended on it.
- The pressure forced you to learn rapidly.
Income|Outcome uses the same psychological principle by creating a controlled environment where participants experience business challenges firsthand. The struggle is real—but the consequences are not.
3) When a team fails in the game, is it still worthwhile?
Absolutely.
Income|Outcome offers a safe place to fail.
A team can completely crash their company—but unlike in real life, no one loses their job.
This is exactly why the learning is so powerful. In a real business, mistakes can be costly or irreversible, but in a business simulation, failure leads to insight rather than consequences.
Much like a flight simulator for pilots, Income|Outcome creates an experiential learning environment where teams can make huge mistakes and learn from them, without suffering the high-stakes consequences of reality.
The Impact
Participants tell us all the time:
💬 "This is the best financial training I’ve ever had."
💬 "Every organization needs this tool."
Why? Because it works.
Income|Outcome de-mystifies finance and gives participants the language and confidence to engage in high-level business conversations.
Whether you need to teach basic financial literacy to frontline managers or equip your senior sales team to navigate global markets, Income|Outcome transforms the way your organization approaches finance.
Ready to see it in action?
Contact our team today to learn how Income|Outcome can develop real-world business acumen throughout your entire organization.
This post was written based on a conversation with Nikolai Usack, VP of Sales for Andromeda Training, Inc (the creators of Income|Outcome). Nikolai is a master trainer for Income|Outcome and has trained managers at leading companies including Abbott Labs, McCormick, MeadWestvaco, and Hewlett Packard.
