1.
• 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
The focus can be on:

2.
Our Goals:
• Work Together
• Get to the Mine
•• Mine as much GoldMine as much Gold
as We Canas We Can
• Return to
Apache Junction
• Have Fun!

3.
Our Goals:
• Work Together
• Get to the Mine
•• Mine as much GoldMine as much Gold
as We Canas We Can
• Return to
Apache Junction
• Have Fun!
Note the “We” – most teams miss
that and frame it: “My Team, My,
Team, My Team” instead of overall
collaboration with the Big WE!

4.
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 success.

5.
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!

6.
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!

7.
Our debriefing questions
focus on such themes as
the following:
(Note: We also use cartoons as visual
anchors to key actions and the fast play
of the game allows for lots of tabletop and
group discussions about choices made
and real alternatives in the workplace.)

8.
The game generates some amount of discord and
disagreement as to what are the best decisions.
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.

9.
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.

10.
Things didn’t necessarily work smoothly. There was lots
of “mud” on our journey that made team progress
difficult. Journeys never seem to be easy, but talking
about issues and opportunities is a key to improvement.

11.
And there could be a lot of
pressure on team leadership
for getting things done
more, better, and faster…

12.
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?
We can easily talk about Motivation and Success

13.
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.

14.
But remember, “My Team. My Team, My Team” and that
particular dynamic mentioned earlier…

15.
We hear
teams talk
about They.
And we hear
teams talk
about THEM:

16.
So, what we talk about is that They and
Them are really US, and that teamwork
and collaboration offer benefits.

17.
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, but we
did not mine all we could have…

18.
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!

19.
Chaos.
Confusion.
Reality!

20.
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…

21.
Heck, we might even notice
some NEW possibilities for
what we can choose to do!

22.
Here are some
key slides
representing
possibilities for
discussions...

23.
What did you
learn from
your
experience?

24.
Let’s have a
Yeeee
Haaaaa!!
After all, we were here to have fun and learn something!

25.
What kinds
of Mud
must we
deal with?

26.
Expedition Leaders
can help teams
be more successful.
Why don’t teams
ask for
assistance?

27.
What can we
do to better
align our
teams to our
goals?

28.
What can weWhat can we
change to allow forchange to allow for
betterbetter
collaborationcollaboration
within ourwithin our
organization(s)?organization(s)?

29.
Benefits of
Collaborating
are obvious.
Why do teams
compete?

30.
In a flashIn a flash
flood, eachflood, each
raindrop willraindrop will
claim itsclaim its
innocence.innocence.

31.
Why are
Clear Goals
needed for
effective
leadership?

32.
If the focus
is on survival,
can one really
focus on
success?

33.
Competition:
An Issue of
Balance.

34.
It’s ALL
About
Teamwork
and Mining

35.
What might
I consider
doing
differently?
It is all about choice and choices;
we generate considered alternatives.

36.
This was
Remember:
But it is also a great learning and discussion experience!
only
a game!

37.
Have FUN
Out There!
Thanks for your time,
energy and thinking.
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