Matt Minahan, MM&A

Page 1 of 4

8:44:34 PM; 6/5/2006

Win As Much As You Can Exercise

Purpose:

To demonstrate the importance of trust and common goals for team
effectiveness.

Strategy:
Through this exercise the team will witness a win/win Vs win/lose relationship.
The goal is for all members to be winners and there are no losers. Putting

members in a losing situation will cause a loss of trust and cooperation within the
team. Teams without these components cannot be effective.
Cautionary Note: There is potential for conflict among members as a result of
this exercise. Proper pre-work should be done laying the foundation of working

more effectively together and seeking win-win solutions to problems in the
workplace. Words are important so be careful in administration. Do proper
debriefing for lessons learned about trustworthiness, trust, agreements and win-

win.

Teaching Method:

Group participation

Instructions:

Tell the team the name of the exercise is the same as the objective - "Win As
Much As You Can". Notify the team that if anybody has done this exercise
before, don't reveal it to anyone, just play along. Break the team into four sub-

groups, naming them A, B, C, and D. Have each sub-group choose a
representative. Give each rep. the following: a sticky label with their
corresponding letter, one red checker, and one black checker. Inform the sub-
groups that A plays with B, and C plays with D. (The sub-groups will

automatically make up their mind to beat the other sub-group. "With" will be the
key word you can refer back to once the exercise is over.)

If you must refer to a particular group (i.e. group A) ensure you use the word
sub-group. Do not call them Team A or Group A. This can become a cause for
argument once the exercise is over. The members will accuse you of

intentionally setting them up for failure and this can lead to an "us and them"
situation. You will lose a lot of ground and trust with the team.

Display the score board and explain the rounds - "Each round I will call up two

reps, i.e. A and B. On the count of three, A and B reps will display one checker.
Each rep will simultaneously display either a black checker or a red checker."
(Stress that only one checker may be shown at a time.) "A score will be given

dependent on which color combination is displayed between the two reps. I will

Matt Minahan, MM&A

Page 2 of 4

8:44:34 PM; 6/5/2006

explain the scoring technique in a minute." Keep a running total on the score
board for each sub-group.

Explain strategy time allowed for each round, and where the score will be tallied
on the score board. Inform the members that there will be 3 bonus rounds.
Explain how the score will be multiplied during the bonus rounds and that the

representatives will be given 3 minutes to talk amongst themselves prior to the
one minute sub-group discussions.

WIN AS MUCH AS YOU CAN (scoring visual)

Explain the scoring.

Red Wins

+5

Black Loses

-5

Red Both Lose

-3

Red

-3

Black Both Win

+2

Black

+2

Begin the exercise. If questions are asked during the exercise be very evasive.

Use only these two phases: "Win as much as you can." and "A plays with B,
and C plays with D."

At the end of the exercise ask the team, "Who won?" Allow open discussion.

Lead them to see that it was up to each individual to determine who the "You"
was in the "Win as Much as You Can" exercise. It is extremely important to
determine who the "you" is for team effectiveness. Who will you play black with,

and who will you play red with? There is a price associated with each color. In
real life we are constantly put on sub-groups. Human nature drives our desire to
win. Competition is healthy, but it depends on who you're competing with. We
must keep focus on the overall team. We live and work in a system and if we

sub-optimize the system, we all lose.

Once the exercise is finished the scribe must tally all four sub-group totals.

(Ensure the scribe tallies the scores without the team's awareness.) Tell the class
what the entire team's winning score was. Explain the maximum possible score
with each sub-group playing black from the beginning: each sub-group - 50

points, two sub-groups playing with each other - 100, and the entire team score
200.

Matt Minahan, MM&A

Page 3 of 4

8:44:34 PM; 6/5/2006

WIN/LOSE Vs WIN/WIN (visuals)

Discuss each item on the visuals. Inform the team that this is a trust issue.
Once trust is broken, the team as a whole loses. Realize that once you play red
you have limited the entire team's potential and neither you nor your team will

likely achieve maximum success potential.

Discuss outcomes and what to do to improve trust in the workplace.

Courtesy of Dr. William Gellermann

He has a Ph.D. in “Applied Behavioral Science” (UCLA’s Graduate School of Management) and an MBA

(Accounting) and a BA (Economics) (University of Washington). He has served on faculties of several
universities (including Cornell, SUNY, and CUNY) and authored a book (“Values and Ethics in Organization

and Human Systems Development”) and numerous articles. For over 30 years, he has been an Organization
Development Consultant with business, government, labor unions, and community groups.

Matt Minahan, MM&A

Page 4 of 4

8:44:34 PM; 6/5/2006

WIN AS MUCH AS YOU CAN

SCORE:

ROUND: TIME:

A

B

C

D

1

4

2

1

3

1

4

1

5

3/1

BONUS x3

6

1

7

1

8

3/1

BONUS x5

9

1

10

3/1

BONUS x10