The Blogworld of Poppyfish People Development

Running wargames for business is not about playing soldiers As an Organisational Development Consultant I view wargaming as one of many possible interventions that I can offer to clients to allow them to challenge their own thinking and as a space for personal development and the spotlighting of talent.  For organisations we approach them as ways of building evidence of a spirit in support of resilience – that ability to maintain a dynamically stable state under continuous stress. Negotiation scenarios can be a subject for exercise, although critical incidents such as cyber threats, PR crisis, continuity incidents, strategic planning horizons and PR crises are more popular, and often higher profile, areas for our clients. Whole system approach Organisations exist as whole systems experienced by people, so from our OD perspective we like to look at the human influences and impacts of the scenario. Because of this, we do not tend to use software to number crunch as we g...

 The benefits of business wargames, simulations and decision making exercises  We left the last blog entry on a cliff hanger : How can simulations, red teams, decision making exercises and business wargames benefit organisations? Our experience of such simulations at Poppyfish  is that there are eight basic ways that this happens: 1. Stimulating innovative and creative thinking in a low risk environment. A realistic scenario allows learners to experience the type of decision making challenge that they will only face in moments of crisis – moments that they do not come across in their day to day working lives. Such activities provide opportunities to stimulate innovative and creative thinking in a low risk environment. The process of being involved in a closed door session serves to focus the mind of managers and leaders on the scenario and allows focussed discussion in a way that the normal day-to-day activities do not allow. 2. Challenging ...

With less than a week to go until the start of the London Olympics let's start with a topical metaphor. Think of a successful organisation as a healthy athlete. Honed, toned, in the zone and eager for success. Reaching the pinnacle of Olympic success takes time, commitment, vision and only comes with dedicated practice and preparation. This preparation comes in different forms – mental and physical - and all with the aim of being at your best when the moment of truth arrives.  Coaches ask their athletes to visualise what it will feel like to compete, to imagine in great detail, how they will compete in those vital moments when there is all to gain, or all to lose. What does success look like? What will it take to win through? How will it feel to do so? What needs to happen for success to be realised? The same preparatory techniques can be applied to organisations, where simulations can form part of this preparation, helping the organisation develop and maintain its v...