First the bad news: I'm in the middle of a big software project and things are not going smoothly. My five-member team is weeks behind schedule and 100% -- that's right -- 100% over its $400,000 budget. And morale? It can't get any worse.
This week has been particularly hellish. Following a new round of complaints about my key engineer's abrasive style, I sent him out for some interpersonal training. That's three days of work we'll never get back. Then I hired an "admin" on the cheap -- only to learn, once again, that you get what you pay for. I had to fire her, which was a huge distraction.
My internal sponsor is as frustrated as I am. He's taken to abruptly summoning me to his office -- which has grown darker along with his mood -- and questioning my leadership skills. "Don't you realize we could both lose our jobs?" he pleads.
I trudge back to my desk, pore over my budgets and schedules, and devise a catch-up strategy. What if I offered productivity bonuses to get people moving again? What if I brought in an extra code writer? What if I fired everyone and started over?
Now the good news: Despite my rocky performance, I didn't get fired or demoted. That's because this nightmare scenario didn't happen at Microsoft, Intuit, or any of the hundreds of fast-moving companies where people like me -- young, unprepared, a bit overwhelmed -- are put in charge of complex, demanding projects. In fact, it didn't happen anywhere in what we call "real life" and in some sense it didn't "happen" at all. The entire experience unfolded on the screen of a laptop computer running "Project Challenge," a just-released business simulation.
At one level, "Project Challenge" is an impressive piece of technology. Its object-oriented software uses "adaptive agents" that learn from each player's moves so that a simulation never occurs the same way twice. At another level, it's just a game, complete with animation and sound effects. Think of Doom II for business. But rather than square off against undead imps, Hell's Knights, and fire-belching demons, players contend with deadlines, budgets, and some (rather corny) characters labeled "your boss" and "project sponsor."
"Project Challenge" is also the most user-friendly example of a tool that's sweeping business. Computer-enabled simulations cover the spectrum from PC-based systems that take an hour to play to custom-designed software that requires millions of dollars to create and days or weeks to experience. The latest simulations even incorporate virtual reality. Business people wear goggles and headphones to "live with" the results of the decisions they make.
John Fay, a vice president and partner with Mercer Management Consulting of Lexington, Massachusetts, specializes in big-ticket simulations for corporate clients such as Spoornet, the South African railway system. Fay loves the technology. He recently built a simulation for a brewing company that created "virtual annual reports." Make smart moves and the computer generates a cheerful document full of exuberant text about growth and profits. Make bad moves and you read a none-too-convincing account of the company's "rightsizing" effort.
But even techno-enthusiast Fay agrees that simulation's real value is not in the technology. The uncomfortable reality in most companies is that people are making more complex decisions in less time, with fewer resources and no margin for error. Being great requires something few people have -- opportunities to practice. That's the value of simulation.
Actors, athletes, and musicians wouldn't dream of performing without practicing. But how do business people practice? Mostly they attend the school of hard knocks -- encountering new situations, making mistakes, learning from what goes wrong. But learning from real mistakes gets expensive -- both for the company and the people who make them. Simulation creates a "virtual practice field" that allows people and teams to test assumptions and experiment with ideas without having to suffer financial reversals or career setbacks.
Fay compares business simulation to what goes on in the NFL between games. "Football coaches and players look at game film because it helps them understand what happened," he says. "In a game film, away from the confusion of real action, each player can step back and look at the whole field, not just his corner of it." Simulations create that same whole-field perspective, Fay argues, and then add an element of control: "Imagine if you could run game films -- and change the play! What if the coach could say, 'Armstrong, you should have blocked this guy, not that guy, and if you did, here's what would have happened?' That's what simulation does."
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