Second, good practices also force people out of their existing mind-sets and routines. "People have to check their titles and territories at the door," says John Fay. Participants should be encouraged to come at problems from perspectives other than their own -- salespeople can represent the company's arch competitor; finance specialists should speak for manufacturing; manufacturing experts might play the role of marketers. That's because the goal of team practice is not just for people to learn, but for everyone to learn the same thing.
"The idea is to create a 'mental model' of the business that everyone shares," says Fay. "Everybody has to think like a CEO."
Finally, practice works best when it puts people on the spot -- that is, when it requires them to take decisive action. The most basic value of simulation, argues Fay, is that it snaps business people out of their "infinite planning loops" and forces them, under time constraints, "to make decisions in real time." Indeed, one of Fay's cardinal rules is that people can't criticize a decision with proposing their own alternative. "Good simulations don't let people kill ideas just by challenging them," he says. "They co-opt everyone into becoming a proponent of something -- even if it's the status quo."
John McClellan agrees. In the real world, he estimates, executives face a big decision every three months or so. They spend most of their time figuring out how to avoid making it. "A good simulation compresses six of those [every-three-month] decisions into two or three days," he says. "And you don't allow people to hide their conflicts. You don't have armies of subordinates fighting it out among themselves."
The ultimate result of good practice, says Mark Chussil of ACS, is to develop leadership qualities that are all-too-rare in business today: courage and confidence. "Simulation helps managers be more aggressive," he explains. "Accountability is important these days, and managers aren't always willing to adopt risky strategies -- even if they might pay big rewards. Managers almost always have more freedom than they think they do. Simulation lets them try options they'd be too 'prudent' to try in real life."
Peter Carbonara (pjcarbo@worldnet.att.net) is a frequent contributor to Fast Company.
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