learning and changing with serious games

8/13/2019 Learning and Changing with Serious Games

1/10

Almost anyone can drive a car but there is only one fastest route to

Rome, and that is the most logical one. Pulling right up to the car in

front at traffic lights is illogical, because what happens if it breaks

down? You have to reverse (if there is room) and then go forward

again. If you accelerate to get through traffic lights on time, you

will need to brake hard if the lights turn red, and that is illogical. It

is a waste of fuel and brake pads. Most road users apply the logical

knowledge of driving, which they have been taught during driving

lessons, in an illogical way in practice. We learn tricks to help us pass

our test, and then fail to put them into practice.

Compare this situation with how people work in your organisation. Its a pityabout the logic, but the (refresher) course, the master-class and the certificationfor the best, correct and most logical working methods often do not lead to theintended success on the work floor. In practice, we apparently struggle to prop-erly unite logic and behaviour. Training exercises and the daily situation are toodissimilar, partly due to behaviour and views being poorly linked, if at all, in most

training and education courses. The situation changes when you bring the exer-cises closer to the practical situation, and evaluate the progress more often, asthis strengthens the relationship between views and behaviour. Complex formsof communication are sometimes required, because of our reality also becomingincreasingly more complex. Classic teaching methods simply fail to come up toscratch within these dynamics.

Three factors

The use of business simulations can help strengthen the link between views andbehaviour. Natural behaviour is demonstrated in the simulation, while at thesame time requesting the motivation for that behaviour. Business simulations

ensure a link between what people actually do and what they claim to do.

Simagine Business Simulations: Rembrandtlaan 7, 3723 BG Bilthoven

+31 (0)30 2819655 www.simagine.nl [email protected]

Dont think its a game when we play with your company!

All rights reserved: Simagine Business Simulations| The Netherlands

Learning and changingvia business simulationsThe core is: flexibility, relevance and realismby: Abram Janse

Simagine Business SimulationsSimagine has been specialised in support

of change processes in organisations

and enterprises for more than seventeen

years. We apply self designed business

simulations in order to help realise such

changes and to make them concrete. The

simulations have proven to be extremely

effective. They not only facilitate the

discussion of required behaviour but also

actually put it into practice.

We are experienced coaches, and

confront the participants as a team (but

also individually where necessary) with

their behaviour and manner of commu-

nication. We then provide insight for all

involved, regarding the effect this may

have. We subsequently supervise the

group in finding (their own) answers to

the questions: How can the situation be

improved? How shall we achieve this?

About the author:Abram Janse is active in the Game

Expertise Centre at Simagine. He gained

his Master title in Implementation and

Change management at the Open

University in 2011. His specialist subject

was: The use of business simulations in

change processes. He is currently devel-

oping an evaluation model for training,

for Simagine, which focuses on the use

of business simulations. This concerns

action based research, whose resultsmust be useful for management and

organisations.


2/10

Awareness of any discrepancies between thinking and doing can be a good startfor successful learning and change. It is also important to know what drivesemployees to optimally deploy their cognitive and creative skills. Various studiescome to the following conclusion:

People work hard when faced with the need to survive (motivation 1.0). Thethreat of dismissal or the promise of bonuses makes people work harder (moti-vation 2.0). It has now become apparent that this latter model only works wellfor simple repetitive tasks, such as in an industrial setting. It has a negativeeffect on intrinsic motivation however. When creativity and quality are required,

the bonus is negative for the employees effectiveness. There are three factorswhich stimulate employees to work in an intrinsically motivated and effectivemanner (motivation 3.0): autonomy, mastery and meaning (RSA, 2010 and Pink,2013).

Autonomy refers to leadership through example and self steering principles.Mastery is the strive to perform tasks perfectly. And meaning refers to the re-quirement that work must be seen to be relevant to people and society. In brief,the presence of a connective purpose (meaning) is a deciding factor for successat the organisation level. The same applies to the feeling of we can do it, thatthere are sufficient possibilities and that the right skills can be developed for thatpurpose.

Following on from this section, we can clearly show that business simulationscan play an important supportive role in learning and change. This only works ifimportant preconditions have been met. In more than eighteen years of develop-ing and implementing business simulations, our experience is as follows. Whenit comes to the learning results for individual participants and the change resultsof the organisation as a whole, the core is formed by the concepts of Realistic -Relevant - Flexible.

QualitySimagine develops business simulations which are not only flexible but are alsorelevant and realistic. Thanks to the three key concepts, the simulations have aneffect on the learning and change situation in question. The business simulationsare flexible enough that they can even be adapted to the participant group whilebeing enacted. They are relevant enough for specific subjects in a recognisableorganisation environment. And they are realistic, so that participants can makethe transfer from the business simulation to their daily reality. In the end, thelearning results for the individual participants and therefore also for the organi-sation, depend on the quality of the implementation programme and the quality

of the coach.


Learning and changing via business simulations

Concepts

Please pay attention to the interpreta-

tion of terms such as serious games,

business games, business simulations

and gamification. We should note that

while all business simulations can be

regarded to be serious games, not all

serious games are business simula-

tions. We shall limit ourselves to the

use of a number of generally used

descriptions of the business simula-tion term.

The game aspect of these interventions

refers to the human component and

the freedom of choice for participants

actions. The simulation aspect refers to

the model based manner in which the

reality is portrayed. Business simula-

tions offer a simulated but simplified

reality in order to offer a controlled

experience. There is a simultane-

ous dialogue which influences the

continuation of the game. Participants

play themselves within a framework

of roles, rules and targets. Activities,

interaction, decisions and results form

the relationships between these roles,

rules and targets. The time frame is

either stretched or shortened in order

to stimulate the learning targets and

to visualise the effects of behaviour.

A balanced and safe environmentprovides the appropriate amount of

effort to become in flow. It also of-

fers the relaxation necessary for free

experimentation.


3/10

Methodology

A number of steps are followed, from idea to final design. The organisationalreality is first mapped out in a meeting with the client. The playing field andplayers are then identified, using a so-called actors model (see figure 2). Thisprovides insight into how the process works in the organisation. We then lendmeaning to this organisational reality by defining the relationships between thevarious actors. It is important to apply the correct level of abstraction in doingso, in order to develop a relevant and realistic simulation. In a following step, agame concept is devised, with tasks, tools and rules. This is followed by valida-

tion of the concept versus reality and the meaning. In other words: is the designstill in keeping with the actual process and are the options flexible, relevant andrealistic enough? Tests are then carried out, with a repeat of the above steps ifnecessary, until the prototype is correctly calibrated for optimum learning.

Motivation 3.0

We referred to Motivation 3.0 in the introduction. It involves three factorsdesigned to help employees perform their work in a motivated and effectivemanner. These are 1) autonomy, 2) mastery and 3) meaning. The business simu-lation design offers an environment in which participants can work to reach acommon target (meaning). We have chosen a layered construction in developing

our business simulations. We distinguish between a layer of tasks carried out byparticipants, a layer of problems experienced by participants (in which masteryis achieved) and a layer of solutions with which participants can experiment(autonomy).

Implementation and coaching

We have already referred to the quality of the implementation programme and thecoach. These two factors determine the learning results for the individual partici-pants and therefore the results for the organisation. It is essential that the transferfrom a business simulation to a coach or supervisor takes place with extreme care.

The supervisor must be capable of making the right choice. He must be able todetermine precisely which business simulation he uses in a specific context and tar-get group. This must be in line with the subject and with the learning and changetargets, of course. He must also be able to determine the point of the processwhere the business simulation best fits. All situations are unique. A particular learn-ing style may not be the optimum choice for all individuals, for example. The pro-gramme must therefore be aimed at dealing with the learning and change targetsof participants with various learning styles. In order to achieve this, we use the Kolblearning cycle and relevant learning styles as the starting point for composition ofthe implementation programme.

Figure 1: Schematic representationof the link between game design,implementation and learning resultsfor the participant and the results forthe organisation.

Figure 2: The actors model describes all thoseinvolved at their job level, and all the relation-ships between these actors in terms of inputand output.

Figure 3: Steps in the game design




4/10

The game cycle

According to Kolb, creation of knowledge is the target of any learning process.The learning cycle shows the preference of people with various learning styles.When translated into the game cycle in a business simulation, this works as fol-lows: The participants start work on a business plan and thus enjoy concrete ex-periences. The results and experiences from this games round are the subject ofreflection. What happened and why? What did you think of your own role? Howcan you avoid the weak elements and promote the good ones? The experiencesand points of reflection are then placed in a more general framework. Whatdoes the theory say about this? What can you say generally about the problemsexperienced? The final step in a round is the planning phase. The participantscome to agreements with each other in order to improve the results, coopera-tion and communication in the following round. Participants can be left to do soindependently, but steering is also possible by applying existing solution meth-ods or best practices. The following round then begins, in which the new workingmethod is tested. The number of rounds is between three and five.

It is very important that the game cycle is completed three times. Some research-ers even advocate four to five times, in order to give permanent results (DeCaluw, 2002). The reasons for repeating the game cycle a number of times are:

This deals with all participants, with their different learning styles.It brings what people claim to do and what they actually do, closer together.It helps participants in gaining mastery of their learning targets.They learn that their skills and knowledge are less than expected (con-sciously incapable). They then work constructively at success and at theinsight that successful action can still be taken even in the event of adversity(consciously capable).

To flow or not to flow

Business simulations are a means with which to communicate. They are anexcellent tool to enable a simultaneous dialogue (multilogue) with the purposeof achieving broader understanding of a subject and tasks. Business simulationsintervene in the level of reality (simplification of reality) and time perception(acceleration or delay), so that participants master specific learning targets. Theimplementation of business simulation is the responsibility of the supervisor,who acts on the basis of his own style. In many cases, business simulations aredeployed in order to visualise participants behaviour and consequently to reflecton it. This can be done in various ways, also when it comes to choosing reflectionmoments.

Figure 4: Kolb learning cycle includinglearning styles

Figure 5: The game cycle




5/10

Some coaches believe that participants should become completely immersedin the game, without being distracted during the process. These coaches attachgreat value to the flow concept. The best learning results can be achievedwhen in the flow is their motto.We believe it very important, on the other hand, that participants are taken outof the simulated reality after each round, in order to establish the link to theirpractical situation. The flow is interrupted for periodic reflection. We can then askquestions such as What were you doing during the simulation? How could youapply that solution in your organisation? Participants must be given the oppor-tunity to discover the overlap between the business simulation and the reality

in their organisation. This unites what people claim and what they actually do,which improves the results of the business simulation.

Feasible results

Whatever style the coach applies, it is important that clients aremade aware of the feasible learning and change results to beachieved via business simulations. Simagine has formulated a trans-fer plan for this purpose, which enables visualisation and safeguard-ing of the results of each participant and at the organisational level.

Figure 7: Transfer of knowledge

The transfer plan indicates that learning is a step-by-step process, which beginswith a new experience being gained by means of a business simulation, forexample the simulation of a future working method. During implementation,the business simulation works with new concepts and theories to be learned.In transfer A, the theory is explained and tested. This theory is then applied togeneral situations and to situations which occurred in the business simulation.Transfer B entails testing of whether participants have sufficient know-how to beable to recognise and apply it in practical situations. They are then ready to workmore effectively as soon as the new working method is implemented, thanks to

the new experiences, knowledge and skills.



Figure 6: the process towards mastery

Gaining mastery

Mastery is gained via a cyclical trans-

formation process from unconsciously

incompetent to unconsciously compe-

tent. This process takes time, but can

be accelerated by repeating actions

and evaluation often. Business simu-

lations are very helpful in awakeningconsciousness of unproductive behav-

iour and the automation of produc-

tive behaviour. There are advantages

to unconscious choices. They are

made more readily for example, and

people are subsequently more satis-

fied. Moreover, unconscious choices

are often more correct than rationally

considered choices in the case of a

complex situation, with the same

knowledge beforehand. Without thenecessary knowledge, unconscious

choices can be incorrect ones how-

ever. While a decision is taken more

quickly and more satisfactorily, there

is a real chance that the choice was

not the right one. (Dijksterhuis, 2005).

This transformation process has an

own valley of despair (see Figure

11), in which the participant is aware

of his lack of knowledge and the

need to work hard to gain and master

more knowledge.


6/10

Engagement, knowledge and capability

Let us assume that the game subject has been well designed and is sufficientlyflexible, relevant and realistic. The business simulation is also well embedded ina learning or change process, and is implemented well by the coach, appealingto all learning styles. This is the basis upon which organisations can change andlearn. At whom is this aimed? `Simagine offers support to organisations who wish to work at increasing theirmotivation, knowledge and skills. We have operationalised the principles ofMotivation 3.0 into engagement, knowledge and capability.This can be rendered concrete per client. We can steer in terms of increasing mo-tivation to actively participate in a change process (engagement). We can workto increase knowledge regarding the imminent change (knowledge). Greaterexperience can also be gained with specific change elements, by practising thembeforehand (capability).

Skills

With regard to the knowledge and capability, we often aim at the followingparticipant skills:

Process awareness: to what degree is the participant aware of the processesand developments in the organisation and its environment? Awareness of

the working environment will result in a more adequate reaction to custom-er needs and to (unforeseen) problems.Process based working: to what extent is action undertaken on the basis ofrole distribution, targets and chain based thinking? This includes translationof proactive behaviour and process awareness into correct actions.Customer orientation: to what extent is action undertaken from the point ofview of attention for customers and quality levels? Think in terms of deter-mining the customers needs and actually offering solutions. This may notbe in line with process based working, because a role of working processhas limitations which are of little interest to the customer but which can be

restrictive in terms of offering solutions.Cooperation: to what extent is there a team effort, and working togetherwithin and outside the team? For example: What can you do if you are re-stricted by your task package but the customer requires a total solution? Anexponent of this is the fusion capacity, leadership.



Figure 8: Operationalisation ofMotivation 3.0 into engagement,knowledge and capability


7/10



A look at a business simulation

In order to illustrate the subjects referred to above, we shall give a number of ex-amples from the Control-IT business simulation. This simulation is based on theblueprint of an IT service management organisation, represented in a metaphor.The metaphor takes place in the logistics environment of a global port and canbe described as follows:

Mainport (client) has contracted out the storage, distribution and supply ofparts and the maintenance of the rails to Logistic Services (service organisation).Logistic Services offers 100 percent service 24 hours per day, 7 days per week.The well-trained and extremely motivated employees are able to translate cus-tomer wishes into efficient solutions without losing sight of flexibility.

Mainport and Logistic Services are fictional companies of course, the tasksare not real, but the problems closely resemble those encountered by an ITService management organisation on a daily basis. And these are preciselythe problems which deserve further attention. Figure 9 shows the resultsof the analysis according to the actors model referred to earlier. The figureshows which roles are included in the business simulation.The activities in the business simulation provide participants with experi-

ence and insight into various processes. The main processes of the businesssimulation are:

availability of parts,solving malfunctions,solving structural malfunctions,implementing changes,entering into contracts,collection and payment of fees.

Figure 9: Results of the analysis according to the actors model

The examples:

The customer has contacted the

service manager due to a problem.

He thinks it is taking far too long to

find a solution. The service manager

agrees that it is taking too long, and

decides to intervene in the incidents

process. From a process based point

of view, this is wrong. The service

manager is personally helping to finda solution. It would be better for the

service manager to request the status

of the incident from the customer

service department. This shows the

field of tension between the customer

oriented approach and possible

cooperation.

The help desk calls the malfunctions

specialist with the request to

provide a solution for a problem. Thespecialist sets to work directly and

presents an adequate solution after

a period of time. In the end, there is

insufficient budget for this specific

maintenance and the changes made

are inadequate. It is apparent that the

specialist has provided more service

than was covered by the contract.

This was certainly a customer oriented

approach, but improvements are

required in process based workingand in cooperation/consultation.

Following the earlier experiences

during rounds one and two of the

business simulation, agreements are

reached on priorities and the incidents

process. A pitfall lies in simply asking

the customer about his priorities.

After all, there must also be contact

with the production employees, the

problem solvers. This concerns process

awareness and cooperation.


8/10



Figure 10: Ease-it results in TNO research

When to use business simulations?

The context within which the change takes place (Homan, 2008),

where the acquired knowledge must be put into practice, is regardedto be the working field for our business simulations. This allows as-sessment of the success and failure factors of the proposed changes.Vision and strategy are shared in an appealing manner and employ-ees are actively involved in innovation of the organisation. Businesssimulations are enacted in order to facilitate organisational changes.We can distinguish between various moments in time which are ex-tremely suitable for the deployment of business simulations.

The first moment is when the plans are made - what is the nature1.of the change and what will it influence? We want to react more

adequately to our environment but how can we generate an in-novative culture?A second moment is directly before the c hange is implemented2.- how do we get a head start and how do we ensure a positiveexperience for our employees? How can we clearly show the in-tention and the purpose of the change?A third moment is during the change - weve been working for3.a year now, but the process has reached a stalemate, how toproceed? Which buttons need to be pressed, and exactly how inorder to achieve success.

Learning methods: experi-mental versus classicUnlike classic learning by reading or listen-

ing, business simulations make demands

of an individuals creativity, decisiveness,

integration of various information flows,

problem solving, risk taking and interper-

sonal skills. Business simulations therefore

have the potential to develop both knowl-

edge and skills (Lee, 2010; Thorne et al.,

1999; Cadotte, 1995). TNO has conducted

research into the effectiveness of business

games versus classic learning styles, at a

number of universities. Simagine participat-

ed in this research with the Ease-it business

simulation (TNO, 2013). The conclusions

of this research indicate that learning by

means of business games is generally more

effective than classic learning methods. This

was particularly apparent for factors directly

related to the engagement, knowledge and

capability of participants.These results were derived from self-assess-

ment and from knowledge and competence

tests. The self assessment is related to self

efficacy, which improves learning results. Self

efficacy is the belief in ones own abilities,

and the conviction of being able to deal

efficiently with any given situation. Business

simulations have a positive effect on the

autonomous approach, motivation and

active learning. In other words, the learning

process is more effective. The graph showsthe specific results of learning characteristics

following deployment of the Ease-it business

simulation. The engagement and learning

targets (knowledge) are shown to be more

strongly improved using the business simu-

lation when compared with classic learning

methods. Participants also experience a

greater degree of autonomy, more useful

feedback and more effective cooperation,

which enables them to (be able to) perform

better.


9/10



The transition curveThe transition curve becomes flattened through intervention with the aid of busi-ness simulations. Awareness, acceptance, testing and integration may alreadytake place before the actual change. The dreaded valley of despair is then nolonger as deep and hopeless.

At the organisational level, the deployment of business simulations leads to anumber of important results. Those involved have greater insight into the situ-ation as a whole, and therefore better understand the context within whichchange takes place. The use of the business simulation allows participants to fol-

low training in the future organisation, as it were. They have experienced successin the context of the business simulation, and that results in self efficacy withregard to the change to take place in the organisation reality. Finally, experiencehas been gained in the mobilisation of knowledge, by learning from each otherwithin the context of the business simulation. These targets (Wenzler, 2008)touch directly on the effect of business simulations on the engagement, knowl-edge and capability of the participants.

Finally, we should note that the results of business simulations need to be safe-guarded within the organisation. Appropriate preconditions must be in place inthe organisational reality, in order to actually arrive at change. Once the lessonslearned from business simulation have been formalised, employees have thespace (autonomy) required to match their reality to the organisational reality.This stimulates motivation and further learning (mastery). It is also important toclarify the communication on the role played by the business simulation withinthe planned change, and the purpose of these two (meaning). These conditionsare based on the concept of organisational decay described by Mastenbroek,2006, among others. When there is no room for formalisation and adequatecommunication, employees may learn a great deal but their new-found knowl-edge will not take root.

Figure 11: Transition curve with thevalley of despair


10/10



Credits & ReviewWe thank the following partners of Simagine Business Simulations: Erik Stroek, Maarten

Versteegh and Herman van der Bij.

Literature sourcesCaluw and Stoppelenburg (2002): Gaming: een krachtig leermiddel. in HRD magazine,

themanummer Het vak trainer, nummer 03, 2002.

Dijksterhuis A. & Olden Z. Van (2005) On the benefits of thinking unconsciously: Unconscious

thought can increase post-choice satisfaction. Journal of experimental social psychology 42

(2006) 627-631.

Homan T. (2008), de binnenkant van organisatieverandering. Kluwer, Alphen aan de Rijn.

Kolb, D.A. (1984). Experiential learning. Experience as the source of learning and development.

New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, Inc., Englewoord Cliffs.

Lee, A. (2010). Simulation Games: Shifting from Conceptual Learning to experiential learning.

University of Hertfordshire.

Thorne, L.D., Farrell, L., Montuori, L. and Willems, C. (1999) The use of a behavioural simulation

to teach business ethics. Teaching Business Ethics. Vol. 3, No. 3, pp. 28396. In Lee (2010).Cadotte, E.R. (1995) Business Simulations: The next step in management training. The Magazine

of the Graduate Management Admission Council, Autumn. In Lee (2010).

Mastenbroek W. (2006), Cynisme en organisatierot bij verandering: de donkere kant van

organisaties, Verandermanagement webforum, 12 september 2006.

Pink. D. (2013). Drive, de verrassende waarheid over wat ons motiveert. Business contact, 5e

druk, 2013.

RSA Animate (2010). Online! Drive: the surprising truth about what motivates us

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u6XAPnuFjJc&feature=player_embedded

[QR-Code.png]

TNO (2013). TNO-rapport Effectiviteit van serious gaming in het onderwijs. TNO 2013 R10415.

Wenzler, I. (2008) The role of simulation games in transformational change. In Kritz, W.C. (ed.)

Planspiele fr die Organisationsentwicklung. Berlin, WVB.

learning and changing with serious games

Documents