Reaction
This game is designed to allow participants to experience and reflect on what it's like when two cultures merge.
Welcome
As participants arrive, ask them to take a cup and 20 chips and to take a seat around one of the tables.
Familiarise
Instructions
- We’re going to play a simple game.
- One of you will be the dice roller
- When the dice land, everyone else must perform an appropriate action. The slowest to react and perform the action must give some chips to the dice roller.
- The number of chips due is defined by the number on the die
- The person to the left of the dice roller, is now the dice roller.
- If you are out of chips, you are out of the game until it’s your turn to be the dice roller.
Handout
- Give each table their specific instructions
Instructions
- In 8 or 9 minutes I will take back the instructions
- You have until then learn the actions and practice the game before we play it for real. Go!
Timebox
- 10 mins
Round one
Facilitation
- Take the instructions back so that no one can see them anymore
Instructions
- Ok reset your chips to 20 each
- One last rule: from this point onwards, you may no longer talk!
- You have 10 mins.
- Go
Timebox
- 10 mins
Round two
Instructions
- O.K. Winners, move to the next table, clock wise
- Let’s play another round
Timebox
- 10 mins
Round three
Instructions
- O.K. Winners, move to the next table, clock wise
- Let’s play another round
Timebox
- 10 mins
Video
Reflection
- Who were the winners from round 1?
- What was it like to join a new table in round 2?
- How welcome did you feel?
- In round 2, what was it like when a new player joined your tables?
- How did you feel about that person?
- Who were the winners from round 2?
- Did you approach changing teams in round 3 differently?
- When someone joined your table in round 3, did you do anything differently?
- What could you have done differently?
Debrief
- Merging cultures is hard, requiring focused and dedicated effort
- People will naturally assume that elements of their previous culture are true for one that they are joining
- Some cultural rules will be common, whereas others will be completely different
- Culture, and the rule systems supporting it are often entirely implicit to those within the culture
- When we make elements of culture explicit and visual, the effort required to join is radically reduced