A discussion the other day focused on a problem with speed and quality learning points for the Dutchman game, so I thought to briefly explain a benefit of the design that was viewed as a problem. It is about using the problem of speed of play to make key learning points in the debriefing about quality and teamwork. 

A key design feature that makes Dutchman unique in the global marketplace is its primary focus is on interteam collaboration.

The game is designed so that sharing resources and information enables ALL of the teams to improve their performance and generate better overall results. 

Dutchman plays with multiple teams because it focuses on collaboration between teams – a pod might be 5 tables (or up to 10) and there can even be multiple pods in one delivery:

And, we calculate results overall. Some teams do better than others and collaborating teams do better than competing teams:

Teams on the left side mined 10, 10 and 11 Gold, a perfect play. Teams on the right side competed and mined 5, 4 and 6 Gold. This is a typical kind of result. ALL teams are successful but some are much more successful than the others.

If one team is having problems, and because the group cannot move to the next day of the game without ALL the teams giving up resources and moving forward, a problem with play slows the game. Waiting on The Prospectors to do Day 9 is frustrating for the other teams that have already given up resources and moved forward. Play is slowed. The other teams wait…

One consultant viewed this as a fault in the design and that it slowed play. The reality is that we simulate issues of quality and overall performance — we cannot start discussing results if a team is not finished, and the management of the game and the tracking of things gets very complicated should teams be on different days. This confusion tends to be a normal part of how teams in organizations operate.

And this can be readily debriefed as to the themes of performance, overall collaboration and group effectiveness. IF one team in a game of 6 tabletops is slow, the whole game is slowed and the other teams can get frustrated. COULD another team help the one that is struggling? Sure.

In the workplace, if one team is struggling with delivery of services, that surely can affect the other teams when one looks at overall performance of the organization. If one part of the manufacturing process is having problems, that impacts quality. If one team in a software development group is having problems, that can affect the overall quality or timeliness of product delivery. We know from all of the quality improvement works over the past 30 years that ALL of the groups involved need to perform to standard to meet minimum quality standards.

• So, in the play, if one team is struggling, do they ask for help?
• How do they react to the Expedition Leader moving to help them solve the problem?
• Do they see their timeliness issue as a problem for the group?

It makes for an interesting part of the overall debriefing.

In MY deliveries, I will often ask the team that has mined the most gold why they chose to not help the other teams improve their performance so as to improve overall group results.

Remember that the goal of the game is,

To Mine as much Gold as WE can!

My designs of The Search for The Lost Dutchman’s Gold Mine were to make the game reflect how organizations really work, and that the play of the game is, 

An excuse to do a really impactful debriefing.

The designed metaphors in the game are very clean and clear and why the behavior of the Expedition Leaders is impeccable. The Expedition Leader’s goal is, “To help teams be successful and maximize the Return on Investment” — the leader make an investment in time, resources and information to enable the teams to mine gold. The Expedition Leader is of course interested in the total amount of gold mined, not the results of one team, while the teams tend to choose to compete to win. That is NOT a desired outcome but it surely adds to the quality and impact of the debriefing discussion.

Dutchman is a very unique intellectual property in the global marketplace for team building.

And we have the in-person framework we call LDGM and the online, virtual design we call LDV.

Ask us for more details,

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For the FUN of It!

Dr. Scott Simmerman is a designer of team building games and organization improvement tools.
Managing Partner of Performance Management Company since 1984, he is an experienced presenter and consultant who is trying to retire!! He now lives in Cuenca, Ecuador.

You can reach Scott at scott@squarewheels.com

Learn more about Scott at his LinkedIn site.

Here is a 2-minute overview of our new online, virtual team building game: https://youtu.be/6sFUOTjdUVg

The exercise has many links to the themes of trust (within and between teams) with a strong focus on trust in the leadership and on collaboration between the teams. This is THE world-class exercise anchored to these elements, based on three decades of client feedback.

Here is a link to a press release about The Search for The Lost Dutchman’s Gold Mine teambuilding exercise and its 30 years of positively impacting people and performance.

The Search for The Lost Dutchman’s Gold Mine is a trademark of Performance Management Company
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