On the face of it, every member of the business is a supporter: one team and one goal – a successful project. All supporters are given prompts that describe potential pros and cons of a particular project and throughout the game are offered “lightbulb moments” that suggest ways in which a creative approach could facilitate a more successful project – prompts that get the team thinking about how a creative mindset can enormously benefit the project and, in turn, the business.

Within the business, there are a number of “blockers” – individuals who, for various reasons, resist novel projects. The blockers are selected in secret, and to succeed, they must blend in with the business.

Crucially, the blockers will know who their fellow blockers are, but the business has no idea who any of them are. The blockers’ objective is to subtly steer discussions and influence the composition of the working group to slow progress and prevent the project from gaining full support therefore increase the chances of the project failing.

Over six rounds, the project will be examined through the lens of six key departments. These departments and the project itself can be tailored to your particular business and sector, but let’s say this is a typical B2B company with a new service offering:

• Round 1: Research & Development (R&D) Focus: The discussion could centre on the novelty, feasibility, and potential for groundbreaking impact of the service.
• Round 2: Marketing & Sales Focus: The discussion shifts to the marketability, customer appeal, and revenue generation potential of the service.
• Round 3: Operations & Production Focus: The discussion addresses the practicality of implementation, resource requirements, and scalability of the service.
• Round 4: Finance & Accounting Focus: The discussion revolves around the financial viability, return on investment, and risk assessment of the service.
• Round 5: Human Resources (HR) & Culture Focus: The discussion considers the impact on employees, organisational culture, and talent development related to the service.
• Round 6: Strategy & Leadership Focus: The discussion takes a holistic view, assessing the alignment of the service with the overall business strategy and long-term vision.

Through each of the six rounds, all participants will be encouraged to raise a series of pros and cons from their departmental perspective, demonstrating that while a project can seem like a no-brainer, no idea is perfect and creative solutions are required to maximise benefits and mitigate risk.

At the start of each of the six rounds, the discussion will be led by a representative from the department whose perspective is the focus of that round. This departmental lead will facilitate the initial discussion about the project from their department’s viewpoint, highlighting key considerations and potential impacts on funding.

The business then needs to form a “working group” – 5 people who will vote on the project’s support in that round, considering the specific departmental lens. Participants can volunteer or be nominated. The team selection should encourage diverse perspectives, including individuals from different departments to foster cross-functional thinking. In case of deadlock, the facilitator can guide the selection. The working group should aim to include fresh perspectives in each round.

It is in the business’s best interest to select team members who demonstrate a supportive manner and a willingness to champion new ideas relevant to the current departmental focus, while being wary of potential blockers subtly trying to influence the vote against the project’s funding.

Remember – only the blockers know each other’s identities. They will collaborate to get themselves and their fellow blockers onto the working group in each round to strategically challenge the project from the perspective of the leading department.

Once the working group is formed for each given round, its members create review the project’s progress, and then submit a “support” card or a “reject” card anonymously. Without revealing their choice, they submit their vote to the facilitator.

The facilitator then tallies the votes and announces the result of the department’s proposal, and announces the resulting budget and ROI adjustments.

The outcome of the vote affects the project’s budget and ROI as follows (assuming an initial budget of MB$1,000,000 and an initial projected ROI of MB$2,000,000):

Unanimous Approval (No rejections):

Congratulations, you have achieved true consensus. No need to go back to the drawing board so your budget remains the same, and the results will be stronger so your ROI skyrockets.

• Budget: remains the same (at MB$1,000,000).
• ROI: Increases by MB$300,000 (to MB$2,300,000).

Progress with one rejection:

There were always going to be bumps in the road. Let’s not get carried away – you need to do some minor adjustments so the budget goes up and the delays result in a minor drop in ROI.

• Budget: Increases by MB$100,000 (to MB$1,100,000).
• ROI: Decreases by MB$100,000 (to MB$1,900,000).

Progress with two or more rejections:

Eek. It’s all going a bit wrong, isn’t it? Substantial disagreement has required a dramatic rethink. We need new ideas and more budget while even greater delays have caused the ROI plummet.

• Budget: increases by MB$200,000 (to MB$1,200,000).
• ROI: Decreases by MB$200,000 (to MB$1,800,000).

As the six rounds conclude, regardless of the overall outcome, the facilitator leads a session discussing how the project was managed and evaluated through each departmental lens, and how decisions were made.

At this stage, you can now reveal who the blockers were. Each blocker will have different motivations which should have surfaced subtly through the game without leading to their cover being blown. It is worth considering these when approaching projects as there are always opportunities to mitigate risk of those motivations negatively impacting a business.

• If the project succeeds: The discussion can highlight the power of cross-functional collaboration and how considering a project from multiple departmental perspectives can lead to a robust and well-funded innovation with the support of creative ideas . Participants analyse which departmental reviews were particularly smooth and which required more navigation, identifying the factors that contributed to the project’s overall success. The winning scenario emphasises the importance of how creativity can contribute to buy-in across different areas of the business for successful project implementation. The conclusion celebrates the project’s journey through the organisation and its potential for positive impact and strong ROI.
• If the project fails: The reflection could centre on the cumulative impact of resistance across different departments. Participants analyse the patterns of blocker votes in each round, trying to understand if certain departmental perspectives presented more significant hurdles in securing funding. The discussion explores potential reasons for this resistance, whether it stemmed from genuine departmental concerns, ingrained biases, or the subtle influence of the blockers. The conclusion focuses on learning how to better foster inter-departmental understanding and collaboration when introducing new projects. It emphasises the need to address potential silos and build a more unified approach to innovation across all areas of the business to prevent future promising projects from being stifled by fragmented resistance and funding shortfalls.

The facilitator ensures that any leftover pizza is shared and enjoyed, celebrating the collaborative effort and creative energy expended, regardless of the outcome!

By structuring the game around departmental leadership and perspectives, participants gain a deeper understanding of how creative projects are evaluated and potentially challenged at different stages of a business. The concluding discussion allows for targeted insights into fostering a more collaborative, greater creativity and a developed innovation-friendly culture across all departments.