learning and changing with serious games
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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!
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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
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Learning and changing via business simulations
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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
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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.
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Learning and changing via business simulations
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.
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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.
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Learning and changing via business simulations
Figure 8: Operationalisation ofMotivation 3.0 into engagement,knowledge and capability
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Learning and changing via business simulations
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.
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Learning and changing via business simulations
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.
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Learning and changing via business simulations
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
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Learning and changing via business simulations
Credits & ReviewWe thank the following partners of Simagine Business Simulations: Erik Stroek, Maarten
Versteegh and Herman van der Bij.
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