14 june, 2013
DESCRIPTION
- UNCLASSIFIED -. CENTER for APPLIED STRATEGIC LEARNING Doing More With Less : Can Your Game Multi-task?. 14 June, 2013. Deirdre Hollingshed , Research Associate [email protected]. Elizabeth Bartels, Research Analyst [email protected]. - UNCLASSIFIED -. - PowerPoint PPT PresentationTRANSCRIPT
14 June, 2013
CENTER for APPLIED STRATEGIC LEARNING
Doing More With Less: Can Your Game Multi-task?
Elizabeth Bartels, Research Analyst
[email protected] Hollingshed, Research
Associate [email protected]
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Presentation Overview• Introduction to multi-purpose
gaming• Case study: Exercise “Scattered
Lights”• Findings
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What is a Game?Contextualize Decision Making using:
• Players defined by Roles• Environment defined by Scenario• Decisions defined by Rules
OR
Players are asked to act on presented Environment by making Decisions give a
particular set of Rules
OR
Group Story Creation
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Purposes of Games
Education• Learn to improve
understanding of concepts, environments etc.
• “Wrong” answers exist
Discovery• Exploring problem
space to better understand complex/unstructured phenomenon
• “Wrong” answers exist
Training• Practice of a
specific set of practical skills to improve performance
• “Correct” answer exist
Analysis• Testing a theory in
and constructed environment
• Looking for the “correct” answer
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Conventional Wisdom Says…
Games should have one set of objectives, united by a single purpose.
• Game structure flows from game objective – muddied objectives = muddied structure
• Too many “variables” for the number of data points
• Provides focus and prioritization. • Allows you to link the scope of the exercise to the
audience.
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Why Consider Breaking the Rule
• Potential benefits of cross fertilization for participants.
• Serve multiple goals with a single event saving time and effort.
• Better attendance through using captive audience.
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Case Study: Exercise Scattered Lights
• Strategic Level• 4 day exercise• Audience: 80 DoD
Master’s Degree students and 40 interagency and international policy experts.
• Scenario: Near Future Mali.
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Exercise ObjectivesEducational• Analyze a range of threat types, to
include the roots of conflict and the Ends-Ways-Means of the threat group(s), to prepare a Strategic Estimate of the Situation.
• Consider the effects of regional and global phenomena on national conflicts.
• Develop a Strategic Course of Action to address threats using all instruments of national power and adapt the plan to unfolding events.
• Develop and brief policy options appropriate to senior leaders at the national and international levels.
Policy• Create a forum for
discussion about US and international courses of action to address Mali and the greater Sahel region
• Introduce international voices into the US planning process
• Raise awareness of CISA methods and resources among US interagency practitioners
GOAL: Demonstrate competency in analysis and
planning skills learned at CISA
GOAL: Leverage CISA methods and
resources to improve policy
decision making
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Purposes of Games
Education• Learn to improve
understanding of concepts, environments etc.
• “Wrong” answers exist
Discovery• Exploring problem
space to better understand complex/unstructured phenomenon
• “Wrong” answers exist
Training• Practice of a
specific set of practical skills to improve performance
• “Correct” answer exist
Analysis• Testing a theory in
and constructed environment
• Looking for the “correct” answer
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Game Structure
Strategies for Government of
Mali
Red Team Plans
International Plan
Revised Strategies
for Governmen
t of Mali
Revised Internation
al Plan
Hotwash
International Plan Revised International
Plan
• Students work in 4 parallel groups advising the government of Mali, and the threats that face the government.
• Policy team works together to create a recommendation for the international community to respond.
Move 1 & 2 Move 3 Move 4 Analysis
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Key Exercise Findings• Security, political reconciliation, and
development strategies needed.• Same idealized end state for Mali,
differences in prioritization.• Correct implementation, rather than new
ideas, are critical to achieving better outcomes.
• Ensuring Malian government buys-in, while promoting ownership of core problems by the Malian government.
• Involve regional actors, both through multi-lateral organizations and bilaterally.
• Expand the UN MINUSMA force’s mandate.
• Value of coordination at the strategic, operational, and tactical level.
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Determining the value of multi-purpose games
Education Discovery
• Audience of policy makers raised the stakes for students – more buy in
• Source of information not otherwise available to students given time constraints
• Student plans served as a foil, rather than a model of real world plans BUT that droved a major epiphany
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The Downside• Benefits found through heavy
facilitation.• Not much less resource intensive
than running two games.• Limits on scenario and game structure to accommodate the needs of both groups.
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Takeaways
• n = 1.• Parallel not merged
events.• Benefit both to the
education from the discovery and the discovery from the educations, but the first seems like it might be more reliable.
Possible to have a successful multi-purposes game
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Next Steps• Test with other
scenarios.• Test with lower stakes
problem.• Test with one
directional linkages.• Testing other
combinations- education to discovery might be the only one that works.
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