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!’?
The Model
All models are wrong, some models are useful.
Business simulation models people as decision-makers.
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.
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.
The strategic level Income/Outcome program Managing a Global Business has close to 10,000 pieces, may well be the world’s largest board game. It typically takes 22 hours to play out, over a period of 3 days (though it has run even longer).