14 June, 2013

CENTER for APPLIED STRATEGIC LEARNING

Doing More With Less: Can Your Game Multi-task?

Elizabeth Bartels, Research Analyst

elizabeth.bartels@ndu.eduDeirdre Hollingshed, Research

Associate hollingshedD@ndu.edu

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Presentation Overview• Introduction to multi-purpose

gaming• Case study: Exercise “Scattered

Lights”• Findings

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What is a Game?Contextualize Decision Making using:

• Players defined by Roles• Environment defined by Scenario• Decisions defined by Rules

OR

Players are asked to act on presented Environment by making Decisions give a

particular set of Rules

OR

Group Story Creation

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Purposes of Games

Education• Learn to improve

understanding of concepts, environments etc.

• “Wrong” answers exist

Discovery• Exploring problem

space to better understand complex/unstructured phenomenon

• “Wrong” answers exist

Training• Practice of a

specific set of practical skills to improve performance

• “Correct” answer exist

Analysis• Testing a theory in

and constructed environment

• Looking for the “correct” answer

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Conventional Wisdom Says…

Games should have one set of objectives, united by a single purpose.

• Game structure flows from game objective – muddied objectives = muddied structure

• Too many “variables” for the number of data points

• Provides focus and prioritization. • Allows you to link the scope of the exercise to the

audience.

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Why Consider Breaking the Rule

• Potential benefits of cross fertilization for participants.

• Serve multiple goals with a single event saving time and effort.

• Better attendance through using captive audience.

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Case Study: Exercise Scattered Lights

• Strategic Level• 4 day exercise• Audience: 80 DoD

Master’s Degree students and 40 interagency and international policy experts.

• Scenario: Near Future Mali.

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Exercise ObjectivesEducational• Analyze a range of threat types, to

include the roots of conflict and the Ends-Ways-Means of the threat group(s), to prepare a Strategic Estimate of the Situation.

• Consider the effects of regional and global phenomena on national conflicts.

• Develop a Strategic Course of Action to address threats using all instruments of national power and adapt the plan to unfolding events.

• Develop and brief policy options appropriate to senior leaders at the national and international levels.

Policy• Create a forum for

discussion about US and international courses of action to address Mali and the greater Sahel region

• Introduce international voices into the US planning process

• Raise awareness of CISA methods and resources among US interagency practitioners

GOAL: Demonstrate competency in analysis and

planning skills learned at CISA

GOAL: Leverage CISA methods and

resources to improve policy

decision making

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Purposes of Games

Education• Learn to improve

understanding of concepts, environments etc.

• “Wrong” answers exist

Discovery• Exploring problem

space to better understand complex/unstructured phenomenon

• “Wrong” answers exist

Training• Practice of a

specific set of practical skills to improve performance

• “Correct” answer exist

Analysis• Testing a theory in

and constructed environment

• Looking for the “correct” answer

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Game Structure

Strategies for Government of

Mali

Red Team Plans

International Plan

Revised Strategies

for Governmen

t of Mali

Revised Internation

al Plan

Hotwash

International Plan Revised International

Plan

• Students work in 4 parallel groups advising the government of Mali, and the threats that face the government.

• Policy team works together to create a recommendation for the international community to respond.

Move 1 & 2 Move 3 Move 4 Analysis

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Key Exercise Findings• Security, political reconciliation, and

development strategies needed.• Same idealized end state for Mali,

differences in prioritization.• Correct implementation, rather than new

ideas, are critical to achieving better outcomes.

• Ensuring Malian government buys-in, while promoting ownership of core problems by the Malian government.

• Involve regional actors, both through multi-lateral organizations and bilaterally.

• Expand the UN MINUSMA force’s mandate.

• Value of coordination at the strategic, operational, and tactical level.

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Determining the value of multi-purpose games

Education Discovery

• Audience of policy makers raised the stakes for students – more buy in

• Source of information not otherwise available to students given time constraints

• Student plans served as a foil, rather than a model of real world plans BUT that droved a major epiphany

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The Downside• Benefits found through heavy

facilitation.• Not much less resource intensive

than running two games.• Limits on scenario and game structure to accommodate the needs of both groups.

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Takeaways

• n = 1.• Parallel not merged

events.• Benefit both to the

education from the discovery and the discovery from the educations, but the first seems like it might be more reliable.

Possible to have a successful multi-purposes game

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Next Steps• Test with other

scenarios.• Test with lower stakes

problem.• Test with one

directional linkages.• Testing other

combinations- education to discovery might be the only one that works.

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