We're pretty keen to look to sports for doing better strategy. But instead of listening to people who play sports, be someone who plays games. You'll become stronger at strategy through deeper adaptability, seeing connectivity to implementation, and better communication of ideas.

There’s lots to learn from the well-known strategy games such as go and chess, the pattern-recognition of card games such as mah-jongg, or the maths-and-bluff of cribbage. But these are too obvious. I want to talk about two table-top games and one videogame/e-sport event strategists should think about and maybe even play in the workplace – Directors, Executives, Project Teams and departmental teams alike would all benefit.

For Strategic Thinking and adaptability

First, Pandemic. In this game, all players are on the same team. The macguffin is trying to find cures for illnesses, but underneath that story, the real gameplay is all of you versus chance. Card draws shape an ever-changing challenge of disease outbreaks, and as a team you have different of actions you could take. But which action first, to tackle which outbreak? Collaboration is the only way to win. And often, you lose.

Why is it relevant to Strategy in the workplace? Because it teaches how to hold on to strategy tightly and loosely at once. When it is working with the external conditions, strategy should be followed consistently. But every time conditions change, you must ask yourself: "is our strategy the most likely to succeed?"

Pandemic playing board and a selection of cards. Nice to see "Contingency Planner" as a hero!

And beyond each move is a question: does this move set us up for the next move? Is this making us stronger (resilient, mobile, flexible) in the context of this situation? As in strategy, every move towards something is also a move away from something else. As options unfurl, so other options wither – it is essential to consider both of these at once.

The game teaches you that there is no correct – or, more profoundly, working towards being correct is unhelpful. As in strategy, advanced players count the cards, know the map and play the probabilities – but most of all they are responsive to changing circumstances. Pandemic is experiential learning of the idea that strategy is never "set and forget".

For strategic thinking in groups

Second, Articulate! In this game, teams compete to define words by giving clues to their teammates within a time limit. You’ll have someone waving their hands while shouting "Big ship, hit an iceberg". Simple, right? Well, no. Because a couple of things happen under time pressure. The definer becomes inarticulate (what words describe a plum? I can’t think of any) and the listeners find it difficult to let go of their first, wrong answer. ("James Bond actor" leads me to shout Sean Connery but when it is wrong I simply cannot remember any other actors.)More interestingly, the definer gets stuck on their first definition, which isn't working. It's common to see people simply repeat the clue while sighing, while their partners repeat that the don't understand.

This helps strategic thinking because it forces awareness of what is difficult in clear communication. For example, many strategies will feature Growth as one of their Pillars’. Well, what’s Growth? Clients serviced? Services offered? Kinda both? Or something else? Articulate! teaches us the many ways words can be misunderstood, and makes us better at clarifying meanings.

It’s even better for team-building and team communication. Because you must tailor your communication to the audience. I can give my father-in-law the above clue for Titanic. With a different audience, that clue failed; but when I spread my arms wide and said ‘Kate Winslet on a ship’ my team got it. And it shows that repeating something that makes sense to you, again and again, is of no help to a receiver that doesn't understand.

Articulate and four game cards. How would you describe each of these to a team-mate? Quickly!

My daughter, at 14, once used a Tom Waits lyric to get the winning move. "The whole town’s made of…" led me to the answer "iron ore". She knew we have music in common and leant into that communication. My other daughter, years later with the same clue, said to me "Ferrous oxide in the ground, it can be dug up for refining". She knew we have chemistry in common.

Being a brilliant speaker is about understanding your listeners.

For connecting strategic thinking and implementation

Many years ago now, I watched a e-sports championship final. Two teams of five players played Overwatch, which features different characters with distinct attributes competing on different maps in multiple rounds of about three minutes. The players know the maps and the strengths of the characters they are controlling; before each round starts, they decide as a team how to win. It is Martin/Lafley strategy in action.

The top players have pretty much the same reflexes, game knowledge and teamwork skills. What makes a winning team is how they adapt their strategies to apply what the previous round taught them about their opponent.

Most organisations build their strategy according to their available information and insights, and then build an implementation plan. But very few build in rapid cycles of real-world implement-fail-strategise-repeat.

Lesson one of military school is no plan survives contact with the enemy. Truly great strategy thinking will scatter the seeds for its own revision. A great strategic implementation plan will have a route for insights from its encounter with reality to flow back to the strategy group to rethink.

So what does this mean for those doing strategy?

Don't try to power through brain freeze

Playing Articulate! you quickly notice it’s easier to get the other team’s clues than your partner’s. Without the pressure of time, the will to score, and the fear of being seen as a ninny, your listening and reasoning becomes clear and fast. Being "on the spot" makes our brains stop working. Paradoxically, feeling like it doesn’t matter so much enhances performance. We can apply this in strategic thinking by reducing the pressure on ourselves. Draw from wherever you learnt to take a deep calming breath and be in the moment (this might be the football penalty, the theatre performance, the piano recital, the job interview). A facilitator who radiates calm and shows zero haste creates the environment in which this slowness. Remember: Slow is smooth and smooth is fast.

Remove the desire to be correct

In all of these games, there is no verifiable correct answer (true, accurate) in the moment. You only have judgement. While this can be honed with evidence, technique and experience, you must relax and know that you are selecting the best you can from the options you can see. You are not finding the drop of 100% true from an ocean of 100% false, but the best available answer at this moment. This is freeing for the mind - but needs an utter absence of criticism. You can help your colleagues by encouraging them to fully complete their thoughts ("say more...") before asking questions.

Pivot quickly

Argue for your idea, question your colleagues and communicate in the language you feel happy with. But when it isn't working, change your tack. Practice letting go: pivoting to a new approach swiftly and gracefully is the only way to win in Articulate! and it's a useful skill to hone for strategic thinking, planning and implementation.

A great way to do this is practice talking about an idea using random metaphor prompts. Open the dictionary and pick the first noun you see. Explain your point in a metaphor using that noun. Stop. Do it again. You'll get better applying different storytelling techniques. But this technique also teaches you to drop an idea without regret or lingering afterglow. (If you're feeling brave, take an improve course!)

See success as coming from a group, not an individual

I don’t make great strategy. I'm pretty sure you don't either. But a team - whether a Board, a working group, an Executive or Overwatch players - can make superb strategy. It’s always about the collective. Which means facilitating greatness from a group is key to making the best strategy, not being a genius.

What’s the real point of these games anyway?

The most profound learning, though, is that the objective of the game is not the purpose of the game. Winning or losing is mildly entertaining. But time spent well with my family and friends is the point.

Likewise, the strategic thinking you do isn’t really the point - objectively, it creates no value. But great strategic thinking leads to better plans, better actions, better cultures… Which all lead to better outcomes, aligned to purpose.

And, we spend a lot of our lives at work. Feeling good around the people we work with (relaxed, inspired, safe…) is valuable. Playing games, and treating work a little bit more like a game (fun is the point, winning is the vector), makes work better, so makes the work better.

Fin

I’m interested in how games can help groups be better at strategy. If you know of anyone looking at this please let me know.

In the meantime, make like a gamer and smash the Like button, and I'll see you next bi-week.

Paul

Want to be better at Strategy? Play games