The Decision Making Game
At the Serious Play Conference, I ran a role playing game that pulled 9 of the concepts taught in the Mindshifting: Growth Mindset and Critical Thinking for Impactful Educators Course in order to teach group-based decision making and problem solving strategies.
These were 9 of the 70 different strategies that are covered in the Mindshifting: Growth Mindset and Critical Thinking for Impactful Educators Course, which provides educators with the foundations for building the following in students:
- social emotional intelligence
- diversity and inclusion
- the growth mindset
- critical thinking
- perseverance
- innovation
- problem solving
- communications skills
Here is a link in case you want download the game to use it for your group or students.
How the Game Worked
In the game, participants played one of 7 different roles, all serfs, in a village in the year 1023. During the game, the village faces problems. Players are part of teams that have to come up with a solution to the problem. For each problem, each team receives instructions on how to conduct their meeting, then, after each team presents their solution and what happened in their discussion, the entire group discusses the different strategies how they impacted the flow of ideas, and how they might use those techniques. When we ran the game, the discussions led to deep reflection on effective ways to communicate, persuade, and influence others. Thus, all participants are exposed to the 9 different strategies for brainstorming ideas or coming to decisions as a group.
Feedback from Participants
The feedback from participants was excellent. I asked them what they learned, and how implementing the concepts changed how the group handled challenges.
Here’s what they said:
Question: What do you think people learned through this game:
Feedback:
- Think outside the box. Listen to others. Compromise.
- I think it would make the discussion process more equitable and positive.
- This reasoning ends with a solution that everyone can get behind.
- Compromise and flexibility
Question: What were your thoughts on the game?
Feedback:
- Great idea and fun.
- This is an inspired game. So fun and would help students understand discourse.
- It was very well designed. I like that we discuss the various strategies afterwards. It gives a great understanding of worst case/best case strategies.
- It’s so much fun and forming relationships immediately. Great ice breaker
Ready to try it in your classroom or organization?
You can register for the course here: link
And, as an incentive, if you register before June 20, you can use this code for a $15 discount: Mindshift15.