Page 11 - Marlborough Chamber Voice Magazine Autumn 2023

M E M B E R F E A T U R E

INTRODUCTION TO BUSINESS WAR GAMING

“You Can’t Mark Your Own Homework!”
Marlborough Chamber of Commerce 2 7 A p r i l 9 A M - 1 P M
Half-Day Session – 27 April 2023

Have you heard about business war
gaming as a planning tool but didn’t
know where to start? Then this
workshop is perfect for you.

There’s a well-known saying in the
world of strategy and planning: “You
can’t mark your own assignments!” No
matter how much effort you put into
meticulously researching, analysing
and constructing your best course of
action, it is impossible to be truly
objective without the help of others.
That’s why no organisational plan
survives first contact with the
marketplace.

In this fast-paced, four hour workshop on 27 April, TorquePoint principals Heather Roy and Simon
Ewing-Jarvie will show you how lessons learned in real-time, action-reaction dynamic role play get
turned into business foresight. It’s the most fun you’ll have at work!

So how do business war games work? While it is impossible to predict exactly what will happen, it is
possible to deduce the most likely and most dangerous courses of action (in terms of your plan
fulfilment) that competitors, customers, government officials, media and a myriad of other elements
might employ in response to you and to factor that into your own plan for resilience.

Decisions and messages that are key to your plan can be stress-tested in a controlled environment.
This is true for organisations of all sizes and in every sector. It is as applicable at the strategic level as
it is for a product launch, project plan or preparation for a negotiation or legal hearing.

Surprisingly, most organisations do not test their plans with any rigour prior to implementation.
Unsurprisingly, most organisations are frustrated in their ability to successfully implement their
plans.

You’ll go away buzzing with ideas and armed with many new tools to use at your own organisation.
More detail about the technique is downloadable from https://torquepoint.co.nz/business-
simulations/.