THE KNOWLEDGE GAME

Posted on June 10, 2003 by Dave Pollard
K game
Time to give something back to all the wonderful readers of How to Save the World. This post contains The Knowledge Game, a tool you can use to educate yourself, or a group of business colleagues, about intellectual capital, innovation and knowledge management, and their importance for modern organizations. It’s played as a game, with two to eight teams who compete against each other. Each team acts as the Board of Directors of a fictitious consulting firm, and the objective is to make investment decisions that provide the best ROI. Those decisions require choosing between investing in traditional physical and financial assets, and among six forms of intellectual capital: human, structural, customer, social, risk and innovation. It’s been tested successfully several times with business audiences, and was even filmed once for a business TV series. This is a game for business executives, remember. Serious modern gamers will find this pedestrian, but it’s just the right pace for over-40s. If someone wants to code it to speed it up and make it sexier, have at it.

Preparation:

  1. Download and save the Knowledge Game zip file . This file contains a .ppt, a .doc, and a .xls file. Open the .ppt file. Print out a full-page copy of slides 18-20, one set for each team, ideally on card stock. If you really want it to be professional-looking, laminate the slide 20 game boards. Cut out the twenty individual cards (slides 18-19) and divide them into orange and yellow sets. Distribute the cards and game board (slide 20) to each team. Give each team 40 white ($1M), 12 red ($5M) and 10 blue ($10M) poker chips or similar tokens.
  2. Print out a copy of the eight-page handout instruction set (the .doc file) for each team. Staple or double-side pages 1-2, 3-4, 5-6, and 7-8. 
  3. Use slides 2-4 of the .ppt deck to introduce the concepts of knowledge management and the forms of intellectual capital to the teams. 

Playing the Game:

  1. Display slides 5-6 of the .ppt deck and hand out pages 1-2 of the instructions. Allow each team 20 minutes to set up the initial situation and make their Year 01 investment decisions. 
  2. Display slide 7 of the .ppt deck and hand out pages 3-4 of the instructions. Ask each team to announce their Year 01 investment choices, and key them into the .xls model following the instructions on the first tab of the model. Allow each team 10 minutes to complete the page 3-4 instructions while you display the Totals tab of the .xls model. Have each team check their cash and Fair Market Value totals against the .xls model display for their team, to ensure they have followed the instructions correctly.
  3. Display slides 8-9 of the .ppt deck and hand out pages 5-6 of the instructions. Allow each team 30 minutes to make their Year 02 investment decisions.
  4. Display slide 10 of the .ppt deck and hand out pages 7-8 of the instructions. Ask each team to announce their Year 02 investment choices, and key them into the .xls model. Allow each team 15 minutes to complete the page 7-8 instructions while you display the Totals tab of the .xls model. Have each team check their cash and Fair Market Value totals against the .xls model display for their team, to ensure they have followed the instructions correctly.
  5. Declare the winning team, as shown on the Totals tab, and allow 15 minutes for general discussion on what mix of physical, financial and intellectual capital investments seemed to produce the best ROI. Display slide 11 of the .ppt deck and discuss the four Game Lessons.

The game takes about two hours (longer if you have real accountants or consultants in the room, who seem to especially enjoy playing). The more people per team, the longer it takes.

I’m indebted to Knowledge Management guru Karl-Erik Sveiby, who has developed a much more sophisticated knowledge game called Tango . If you enjoy The Knowledge Game, you owe it to yourself to invest a little of your financial capital in Tango. It adds the important additional dimension of choosing between potential recruits with different competencies, so the element of human ‘capital’ is much more fully developed.

I’m planning on developing a sequel to The Knowledge Game based on Blogs, Social Networking and Social Software . Ideas and collaborators are welcome.

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11 Responses to THE KNOWLEDGE GAME

  1. Correy Sutherland says:
    April 28, 2004 at 23:44

    Would have liked to comment but cannot access the server to download the game.http://home.ca.inter.net/~7Epollardd/KnowledgeGame.zip

  2. Philippe Drouillon says:
    May 11, 2004 at 06:02

    I also tried to download the game and I also faced the same problem.

  3. Dave Pollard says:
    May 11, 2004 at 06:31

    Sorry about that. I’ve changed ISPs and the new one won’t let me FTP zip files. E-mail me and I’ll send you the zip that way.

  4. Mark Meerbeek says:
    October 15, 2004 at 04:13

    Could you please send me the zifile? I would like to play the game with some of my collegues.Thank you in advance.Mark MeerbeekProRail

  5. Cris Townley says:
    February 7, 2005 at 19:21

    I’d love the Knowledge Game zip file too please. PS I’m a Tango facilitator, and have been toying with the idea of a social network organisational simulation. Have you gone anywhere with this idea?

  6. Maris Petersons says:
    August 3, 2005 at 03:11

    Could you please send me the zifile? I would like to play the game with some of my frends. Thank you. Maris Petersons

  7. Douglas Weidner says:
    November 16, 2007 at 16:54

    Kaye Vivian recommended your game on ActKM forum. I expect you will get soon some interest from others as well.I’d like a copy of the zip file please.Thank you in advance.

  8. Ernest says:
    November 17, 2007 at 08:47

    Hi Dave,Thanks in advance for the zip file.

  9. Christos (Brett) Peppler says:
    April 10, 2008 at 17:22

    Hi MarkI’ve just come across this Blog post through the actKM list. If the Zip file is still available would you kindly send me a copy. I teach at a number of universities an see opportunities to use this game in my courses.Regards, Brett

  10. Keng Min says:
    October 17, 2008 at 02:32

    Hi Mark,I am very interested in your game. Could you send me a zip file. I plan to try the game and invite more people who are interested in KM to play the game too.Thank you.

  11. arzu says:
    December 2, 2009 at 07:32

    If the zip file is still available could you please send me? I am planning an elective course, may be I can use it with my students.Thank you.

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