This document describes a business simulation game that focuses on teamwork, collaboration, strategic planning, and leadership. The game separates participants into teams that must work together to find a lost gold mine. It is designed to generate discussions around choices made in the game and how they relate to real workplace challenges. The goal is for participants to mine as much gold as possible through collaboration rather than competition. The fast-paced gameplay and debriefing questions are meant to provide lessons about communication, decision-making, alignment, and overcoming obstacles through teamwork rather than individual success.

2. Need a high-energy business simulation
that works with very senior managers as
well as front-line employees? A game with:
• solid clean metaphors
• links to planning
• links to decisionmaking
• great debriefing
anchors
• links to improving
results & performance
• a solid focus on
collaboration and
engagement

3. The focus is on
• teamwork and communications
• inter-team collaboration
• strategic planning and resource management
• organizational alignment to shared goals
• leadership and support
and other aspects of team play and motivation

4. Please let me share some thoughts around play:
You gather your people for a challenge to mine
Gold and to have fun! We need to find the lost
mine of Jacob Waltz, the Deutchman, in the
Superstition Mountains of Arizona.
First, separate players into
teams of 5 or 6 people.

5. You can choose to
play with LOTS of
teams, if you have
them.
Or just a few players…

6. People enter the room set
with round tables, with
colorful packets of
information, Grub Stakes
of Resource Cards, and toy
trucks, binoculars, and
little plastic cowboys!
There are hats and colored
bandannas, too.

7. Then, it’s time to sit back
and focus on learning all
the rules, processes and
objectives of the exercise.
We share instructions,
mechanics of how things
work, policies and
procedures -- all the
information they need to
be successful in the
journey forward.
Our goals are:
“To Mine as Much Gold as We Can” and
“To Maximize our Return on Investment.”

8. Their tabletop map
shows the key
location of the
mine as well as
possible routes
they can choose.
Tables have
possibilities to
discuss, risks to
assess, and
resources to
manage.

9. Our Goals:
•
•
•
Work Together
Get to the Mine
Mine as much Gold
as We Can
• Return to
Apache Junction
• Have Fun!

10. Our Goals:
•
•
•
Work Together
Get to the Mine
Mine as much Gold
as We Can
• Return most teams miss
Note the “We” – to
that and frame it: “My Team, My,
Apache Junction
Team, My Team” instead of overall
collaboration Fun!
• Have with the Big WE!

11. A final call to tell everyone they have only a minute
left before Day 1 of the journey begins ALWAYS
generates some energy. Then the chaos, confusion
and the FUN of Day 1 begins!

12. A sense of competition and the natural competitiveness
commonly caused by the “My Team, My Team, My Team”
focus measurably sub-optimizes the group performance
results. Collaboration rather than competition is a key
factor for our success.

13. While Traders spend their days going back and forth to
the Provisioner’s Trading Post, the other team members
perform their given roles within the team. Players may
interact with the other teams for information and
resources; collaboration works and makes good sense.

14. Collaboration and teamwork generate more successes.
Poor planning will make some teams feel pressured or
experience discord when their plans don’t work. Many
teams work their plan well together and use available
information wisely. For those, it’s less stress and more
success.

15. Our expressed goal is to mine as much gold as WE
can and to have fun while doing it! We also want to
have a very positive experience to debrief so that we
can discuss alternatives for improvement. THAT is
the goal of playing this exercise.
The Goal is to mine as much Gold as We Can!

16. The play of the game is our anchor
point for serious discussions about
the choices we make and the issues
of communication and teamwork.
Collaboration offers much higher
payouts than competition, but
players often choose to try to win
rather than optimize overall results.
This allows for great debriefing!

17. Some debriefing questions and
themes are on the following pages.
We also use cartoons as visual
anchors to key actions.
The fast play of the game allows
for lots of tabletop and group
discussions about choices made
and real alternative choices in their
workplaces:

19. We give each team a vehicle and the resources
needed for success.
(Some of my narrative appears at the bottom of these slides.)

20. And some amount of discord and disagreement is what
will generate a better decision.
Not everyone agreed and it was important for the team to
reach a consensus about what to do, where to go, what
to take and how much risk should be managed.
Disagreement is good if it insures that we have looked at
things from a variety of perspectives.

21. And reaching agreement and making good decisions is
what will generate better teamwork, planning and results.
And we NEED agreement! We need everyone on board and
feeling that their ideas have been considered. Once we got
agreement, teams could focus on getting things done:
planning, trading, and executing. AGREEMENT MEANS
SHARED OWNERSHIP AND ENGAGEMENT.

22. Even though everyone was seemingly on the same team
and riding in the same vehicle, it was hard to know if we
were all tuned in to the same channel. As Expedition
Leader, all I could do was hope that we were all heading in
the right direction. All the leader can do is hope!

23. But things didn’t necessarily work smoothly. There was
lots of mud on the journey that made a team’s progress
difficult. There were a lot of things that simply made the
task difficult. This journey was NOT easy.

24. And there could be a lot of
pressure on team leadership
for getting things done
more, better, and faster…

25. We can easily talk about Motivation and Success
Employee engagement is an
experience to be lived
not a problem to be solved.
It’s really neat, getting to the Top,
one wonders if success will ever stop.
Collaboration is one real great key
as is planning things, it seems to me.
We see the goal, we see the top.
What pushes us to never stop?

26. This may be motivating, but it is NOT real success!

27. We can readily talk about organizational alignment and the
need to have shared goals and objectives. All of the teams
could have chosen to work together.

28. But you might remember, “My Team. My Team, My
Team” and that particular dynamic mentioned earlier…

29. We hear teams
talk about They.
We hear teams
talk about Them.

30. So, what we talk about is that They and Them are
really US, and that teamwork and collaboration
offer benefits.

31. We could have then worked together to
execute the One Best Plan.
After all, this was NOT a race; we just had
time limits. Our goal was to Mine as much
Gold as WE Can. We wanted to optimize
our results. We did not mine all we could…

32. But, Nah! And
Yeeee Haaaaa!
Let’s Get ‘er
DONE and just
have some Fun!
So many teams
just took off
flying toward
The Mine.
And it WAS Fun!

33. Chaos.
Confusion.
Reality!

34. So, after the play has ended and the gold has been
mined, we have the chance to sit by the fire and
chat about what we could have done, what we
should have done and what we might choose to do
now that we are heading back to the workplace…

35. Heck, we might even notice some NEW
possibilities for what we can choose to do!

36. Let’s have a
Yeeee
Haaaaa!!
After all, we were here to have fun and learn something!

37. We cannot
become what
we want to be
by remaining
what we are.
Max DePree

38. And we
have LOTS
and lots of
testimonials
about the
exercise
from users
worldwide.

39. These next few
slides represent
possibilities for
discussions...

40. What did you
learn from
your
experience?

41. What kinds
of Mud
must we
deal with?

42. How do we best
manage the mud
that often occurs
as we try to move
fast forward?

43. Expedition Leaders
can help teams
be more successful.
Why don’t teams
ask for
assistance?

45. Improvement is
about making
different
choices!

46. We cannot
become what
we want to be
by remaining
what we are.
Max DePree

47. The issue of
Alignment is a
critical one.
How does it influence what happens
during regular business in the
organization?

48. What can we
do to better
align our
teams to our
goals?

49. Teamwork and
collaboration free up
mental resources
and energy for
service, creativity
and improvement.

50. What can we
change to allow for
better
collaboration
within our
organization(s)?

51. Benefits of
Collaborating
are obvious.
Why do teams
compete?

52. In a flash
flood, each
raindrop will
claim its
innocence.

53. Why are
Clear Goals
needed for
effective
leadership?

54. Three play strategies are common:
Survival - Return Home ALIVE
Competition - WIN - Beat other teams
Optimization - Do the BEST we can
What was your team’s
start-up strategy?

55. If the focus
is on survival,
can one really
focus on
success?

56. How was the
competitive aspect
of the game helpful
to you and your team?
How might it be helpful
in an organization?

57. How was the
competitive aspect
of the game harmful
to you and your team?
How might it be harmful
in an organization?

58. Competition:
An Issue of
Balance.

59. It’s ALL
About
Teamwork
and Mining

60. What might
"Mining Gold"
Gold
represent
to our
organization?

61. Group Discussion
• Main Question: “What does Mining
Gold mean to us as an organization?”
• Each table has 5 minutes to come
up with one REALLY good idea,
something that we should
implement.
• Tables capture ONE actionable idea
on an easel pad and select someone
to present that.

62. What might
I consider
doing
differently?
It is all about choice and choices;
we generate considered alternatives.

65. Remember:
This was
only
a game!
But it is also a great learning and discussion experience!

66. And while this IS only a game, we have lots of supporters
It is a great learning and discussion experience!

68. Have FUN
Out There!
Thanks for your time,
energy and thinking.