I've been playtesting almost daily now, inviting leaders, managers, and founders for coffee to 'play' with my card set for about an hour. The process is evolving, and I'm seeing some fascinating results. I do need to remind myself... this feels like play to spot intuitive behavior under stressful challenges, this looks like a game but it is all about the dialogue and decision making.

The Playbook For now it is all about the card deck, an empty table to lay out 7 cards representing their high-level strategy and a great conversation. Because of the dialogue I'm using these rounds as a kind of turn-based game.

The current format:

1. Quick selection: 10 minutes to choose top 10 resources per theme.

2. Present state: Place one card per theme, representing the organization's current state.

3. Future vision: Select a card per theme depicting where they want/need to be in 5-10 years.

4. Bridge the gap: Identify a card to connect present and future states.

The Playing field I'm still tweaking the rules, especially around card placement. We're using stacking for multiple concepts in one box and tilting for negative expressions. I've also added a reflection phase after each round, using an "equalizer" approach to prioritize importance. Moving cards up and down based on importance.

Final question

The final question is to point out the pivotal point or critical path on the board. This is where the magic happens. It's incredible to see how this simple exercise can reveal so much about an organization's strategy and challenges.

We may have stumbled upon a new kind of assessment tool here. A great way to engage in strategic conversations instantly... and continuously focusing on the right level without loosing yourself in details. The challenge now is deciding where to focus our efforts and investments to develop this further. There's potential, but how much time, energy, budget are we willing to invest?