Innovation Games
Michael Tarnowski
Plays-InBusiness.com
www.innovationgames.com
Innovation Games ‒ The Seriously Fun Way
to Do Work!
Innovation Games:
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a set of originally market research oriented, facilitated and
directed games, developed by Luke Hohmann.
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13 core games at the beginning; now more than 20 games.
Free account to play online: http://innovationgames.com/resources/instant-play-games/
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Gamestorming ‒ Another Playful Way to Do
Work!
Gamestorming:
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A similar approach, initiated by Sunny Brown,
David Gray.
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More games ― collection of “traditional games”,
and not limited to a certain business field.
Recently, Luke Hohmann (Innovation Games) and Gamestorming
started a co-operation  aka “Community Games”.
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Games
1/2
Games involve a high level of emotion.
Emotions help us to
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Focus
Remember
Decide
Perform
Learn
TED Video: Stuart Brown: Why Playing is vital?
http://plays-in-business.com/2011/09/warum-spielen-so-wichtig-ist
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Games
2/2
Games
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involves people
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have structure and goals
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operates more like a real-world system
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results are unpredictable
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small changes in variables generate dramatic differences in the result.
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Business Process
Result of a well-designed and wellexecuted business process are
standard, repeatable, scalable results.
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chain of cause and effect,
leading to a predictable result
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World is a Complex System...
...made up of many complex systems, all of them interacting with each
other in complex, dynamic and unpredictable ways.
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Business Process vs. Creative Process
(Game)
Business Process
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Same result every time
Framework for Predictability
Game
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Different result every time
Framework for Possibility and Creativity
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Games *)
1/3
*)
Innovation Games, Agiles Games, LEGO Serious Play
Agreement
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Games are alternatives to
standard business meetings.
New Ideas
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Games are structured activities.
A facilitator leads a group
towards some goal by way of a
game, that provides scope for
thinking freely, even playfully.
Unraveling
complexity
Problem Solving
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Games require a few props such
as sticky notes, poster paper,
markers, random pictures from
magazines, or other thought
provoking objects ― “Fluffy Stuff”.
Deep Understanding
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Planning
Innovation Games ‒ The Seriously Fun Way
to Do Work!
Innovation Games:
Focussed on real-time collaborative games to engage customers and
stakeholders to reveal what really matters to them and to get
breakthrough ideas.
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www.innovationgames.com
Innovation Games ‒ The Seriously Fun Way
to Do Work!
Ways of
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customer feedback about a product or service
prioritising issues, features, meanings, options, possibilities, ...etc.
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Innovation Games ‒ The Seriously Fun Way
to Do Work!
Serious games to solve a wide range of product strategy and
management issues across the whole market lifecycle.
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Innovation Games ‒ Fields of Application
Not only applicable for market research and product design,
but also for
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Portfolio management,
Requirements management,
Project management
.....
...any number of tasks of
 Innovative Thinking
 Brainstorming
 Collaboration / Team building
 ...
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Scenario:
You have a bunch of smart people in a room
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Option One...
…One Question leads to the other
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Option Two...
…One dominates the meeting ― the dullest one most
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Option Three...
…Chaos of Creativity
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Solve Scenario Problem by…
…Gamestorming
…Agile Games
…Innovation Games
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Core Set of Innovation Games:
Product Box
Spider Web
13 Games
Make My Day
Speed Boat
Buy a Feature
20/20 Vision
The Apprentice
Remember the
Future
Me and My
Shadow
Show and Tell
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Hot Tub
Prune the Product Tree
My Worst Nightmare
13 Innovation Games
1/5
Product Box: customers work individually or in
small teams to create and sell their ideal product.
Me and My Shadow: discover hidden needs by
carefully observing what customers actually do
with your products.
Buy a Feature: customers work together to
purchase their most desired features.
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13 Innovation Games
2/5
Give Them a Hot Tub: customers provide
feedback on outrageous features to establish
what is truly essential.
Remember the Future: understand your
customers’ definition of success by seeing how
they shape their future. (This game is related
with Future Perfect from Agile Coaching)
Spider Web: participants work individually or in
small teams to create vivid pictures of how your
products and services fit into their world.
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13 Innovation Games
3/5
Start Your Day: participants collaboratively
describe when, how, and where they use your
product(s). Participants describe their daily,
weekly, monthly, and yearly events related to
their use of a product.
Show and Tell: customers describe the most
important artifacts produced by your system to
you and other customers.
The Apprentice: an engineer or product
developer uses the product as an end-user.
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13 Innovation Games
4/5
20/20 Vision: customers negotiate the relative
importance of such things as product features,
market requirements, and product benefits.
Prune the Product Tree: customers work in
small teams to shape the evolution of your
products and services.
Speed Boat: customers identify their biggest
pain points with your products and services.
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Innovation Games (Core)
5/5
My Worst Nightmare: Discover hidden and/or
unconsidered worst-case scenarios to develop
better understanding and planning.
Participants imagine and draw a caricature of
their “worst nightmare” related to the product or
service that you’re researching.
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+ a Bunch of more Games aka „Community Games“ 1/2
Gamestorming, Agile Games
Discover
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Cover Story
Empathy Map
SWOT Analysis
Whole Product
Think big to uncover your company’s potential
Understand what your stakeholders want from
the business
Uncover how to attain your desired end state
Differentiate your product
Shape
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Impact/Effort Matrix
Learning Matrix
Find the most efficient way to reach your goal.
Think of effective improvements for your iteration
Free account to play online: http://innovationgames.com/resources/instant-playgames/
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+ a Bunch of more Games aka „Community Games“ 2/2
Gamestorming, Agile Games
Shape
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Bang for the Buck
Collaboratively rank a project backlog
based on estimated value and
estimated cost
How Now Wow Matrix Form original ideas to implement
Act
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Plus/Delta Game
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Pros/Cons Game
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Actions for Retrospectives
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Circles and Soup
Circles of Influence
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Collect constructive criticism to improve
future events
Organize your thoughts to make careful
decisions
Discover how you can improve an event
for the future
Improve your past projects
Identify who can help you reach your goal
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Product Box
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Spider Web
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Start your Day
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Speed Boat
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Buy a Feature
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20/20 Vision
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Me and My Shadow
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Give Them a Hot Tub
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The Apprentice
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Remember the Future
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Show and Tell
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Prune the Product Tree
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My Worst Nightmare
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Further Reading
Books
 Luke Hohmann: Innovation Games. Creating
Breakthrough Products Through Collaborative
Play. Addison-Wesley, 2006

Dave Gray, Sunni Brown, James Macanufo:
Gamestorming. O'Reilly, 2010.
Web Links
 Innovation Games: www.innovationgames.com
 Gamestorming: http://www.gogamestorm.com/
 Michael Tarnowski (Article) http://goo.gl/vS2Py
 http://tastycupcakes.org/
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Graphics Acknowledgements
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http://www.ftd.de
http://agilitrix.com
www.globalmoxie.com/
http://www.picturesof.net
www.phillip,martin.com
http://media.tumblr.com
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http://www.gogamestorm.com/
http://www.innovationmanagement.se
DownOnEarth, ttp://www.flickr.com/photos/16173624@N03/4147638363/in/faves58564123@N05/
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1164/5125476119_2cdf57722e.jpg
Official Innovation Games Trained Facilitator course material (Luke Hohmann, Maarten
Volders)
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Website:
Twitter:
Xing:
LinkedIn:
plays-in-business.com, info@plays-in-business.com
twitter.com/playsinbusiness
twitter.com/m_tarnowski
xing.com/profile/Michael_Tarnowski
linkedin.com/pub/michael-tarnowski/52/b62/a98
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Competencies:
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Trained Innovation Games Facilitator & Trained LEGO Serious Play Facilitator
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Certifed Scrum Master, Agile Coaching
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ISO 15504/Automotive SPiCE Prov. Assessor
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Requirements Engineering & Management consultancy
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Quality Assurance & Management consultancy
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Project Management & Configuration Management consultancy
ISO 15504
Assessor
Industrial Sectors:
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Automotive, Finance
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Logistics & Public Transport
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Defence , Aerospace
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Aviation & Air Traffic Management
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