Why I Like Income/Outcome Business Simulations

Over the next few days I will be posting a series of videos that look at why other people like our state-of-the-art board game business simulations. But first, I thought I should talk about why I like the simulations.

‍The Teaching Tool

‍I like that we can take a complex abstract concept (like finance) and make it simple.   I like that our business simulation can teach faster than other methods.  I like that people are so engaged in the simulation that they want to learn the tools we provide.  Where else do you hear folks saying ‘Yes, I want to learn about budgets!’?

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‍The Model

‍All models are wrong, some models are useful.

That quote is from George Box, but it was Bill Winfrey who said ‘Income/Outcome is a useful model’.

I like the Income/Outcome model because at its core it uses an income statement and balance sheet; so it is useful in that it is applicable to all businesses.  We started out in big business manufacturing, last fall we ran a manager/owner simulation for the  MSP industry and today I was talking about a model for county government.   After 10+ years, the model remains robust and resilient.

I like the model because it includes people as decision makers.  The game board represents the financial impact of the decisions made, but those results did not just happen… people made the decisions.

The Game

‍I like any number of games for any number of reasons; but in all cases, I want a game to be replayable which means I may want to re-play with a different strategy.  Many simulations have a single (hidden) solution, once you find that solution it will work every time.  Income/Outcome has inter-related competition, which means that the best solution is unique to the current situation.

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