Debriefing Issues
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Frequently Asked Questions

Advice for the Facilitator

Updated April 1996

The Initial Approach Debriefings During the Simulation Issues in the Final Debrief The Critical Incidents Approach to Debriefing Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Karl E. Sveiby November 1995

The Initial Approach

You can run the simulation:
1. As a Competitive Game or as a Reflection Learning Process
2. With Open ended or Closed debriefings

1. Competitive Game or Reflection Learning Process?
The simulation is designed so a winner can easily be identified. Competitive Western cultures like America, Australia and some European countries like to compete and see a winner being celebrated. Some Asian cultures, Scandinavians, Public sector people and HR people often do not like competitions, however.
Competitions give an intense atmosphere, commitment and excitement. The drawback is that a competitive atmosphere reduces willingness to reflect, it may alienate the non-winners and it enhances the likelihood of cheating. It is fairly easy to cheat in Tango and if you run a seminar like a competition you might need one assistant as "police". Exposing someone to cheating however puts everybody off and the learning effect of the simulation may be ruined. In general, competition reduces the learning effect.
A couple of methods to handle the issue of competition and selecting the winner are found below in Final Debrief.

2. Open or Closed Debriefing Sessions?
Tango highlights a very large number of issues. You can allow the participants bring them forward by asking the suggested questions. Or you can elaborate on the issues from stage as a lecture. The choice is depending on the time available, a matter of the objective of the exercise, also taste and experience.

1. Open-ended session, with no specific questions. This approach allows the participants to reflect themselves and the outcome may come as a bit of a surprise to you. It is more demanding on both the participants and the facilitator, but may bring out truly creative responses, create new knowledge.

2. Closed session, with more specific questions. This approach may bring out more detailed responses. It reduces the risk that participants elaborate on irrelevant details. If you restrict the number of issues, it will take less time than the first approach.

Debriefings During the Simulation

The link i.e. Customer Strategies. refer to the booklet The Knowledge Organization, which is included in the participantsī material.

While the simulation runs, debriefings should be kept short and restricted to the intervals between the annual cycles. Maximum 30 min if you run a 12 hr seminar. Max. 45 min if you run a 2 day seminar.
The simulation is designed so that the issues below gradually become more prevalent. Use the list as a smorgasbord for customization. You will not have time to cover all of them.

After Year 1

No debrief. The participants are eager to get going!

After Year 2

You still have a number of rules to tell them about (headhunting) and to remind them of. Because the participants are still confused by the information overload caused by the introduction, you can reduce this debrief to 5 minutes only.
Results Follow up. Also indicate their levels on Knowhow and Image on the whyteboard. It simplifies both your and their overview during later market sessions. Give only a few comments on results. Strategy. Use the Strategy Matrix in the Learnerīs Guide. What strategic choices did they make? Where are they going? No details. Only a very short and rough follow up. Customer Strategies.

After Year 3

Results plus Levels. Follow up. This is the year when you can expect the first bankruptcy, so tell them what will happen in such a case. Comment on any trend you can distinguish. Ask a team to comment if they have made a huge profit or big loss.
Strategy. Let each team describe their strategy, whether they are happy with the development so far and whether they have made any strategic change. Map their position on the matrix. The intersecting line between "small" and "big" is six people employed.
Capacity Utilization. People are revenues and most costs are fixed in the short term, so the capacity is very valuable. Utilising Capacity.
Learning Process. Give them a few minutes to discuss their team learning process. How do they communicate? Does any of them sit silent? Why? The difference between a winning and a losing team in the simulation is often the team process.

After Year 4

Results plus Levels. Follow up.
Performance Measuring. Depending on how much time you have available you may wish to make this debrief long (= Management Reports) or short (=1 page form in Learnerīs Guide). Let teams that finish ahead of the others start filling in the forms. You need not explain how the ratios are to be calculated, only if they ask. Let them write their ratios on the whyteboard. Go through the ratios and comment.
Customer/People Fit. How do the customers react in the simulation? The people?
Learning Process. Give them a few minutes to discuss their team learning process. Has their team communication improved? What have they learned so far?
Market segmentation and niche strategy. Let each team describe their strategy. Listen when they mention that they concentrate on a certain Chemistry or Knowhow or Image. These are examples of segmentation (or differentiation) on markets where customers perceive no unique differences between the competitors. On such markets, relations become important, as well as size. Personnel Strategies.

After Year 5

This is often the last year of a 12 hr simulation, so the Final Debrief should be done. If not: Results plus Levels. Follow up.
Performance Measuring. Allocate time for filling in the forms. Discuss them.
Relevance of size. See below Final Debrief.

After Year 6 (Advanced level)

The market has turned adverse this year. Customers are no longer willing to pay as much as before for the competence of the people.
Results plus Levels. Follow up.
Knowledge Life Cycle. The market follows a life cycle. Customers learn from your people, just as your people learn from them. The uniqueness value is dispersed and prices come under pressure. This is an inevitable feature of the information economy. Discuss how to handle it.
HR Issues. How have the teams treated their "staff"? Ask them about their decision making process. Did they fire people or did they try to keep them? Here is an ethical dilemma to discuss. Note that the teams have very few options in the simulation, there is no possibility to let people move into a new knowledge or to start a new professional career (which is an opportunity that some might try in real life). Some participants might be frustrated by this. The simulation is however designed to make them acquainted with the problem and how managers are forced into some decisions - not to tell them the "correct" solution.

After Year 7 (Advanced level)

Final Debrief. See below.

Issues in the Final Debrief

A very large number of debriefing issues can be highlighted. The list below is a smorgasbord, far too many to be covered in one session only. The choice depends primarily on how you wish to customize the simulation. It also depends on what the participants bring up, time available and the background of the facilitator. The link i.e. Personnel Strategies. refer to the booklet The Knowledge Organization, which is included in the participantsī material.

Select the winner.

Rather than you as the facilitator selecting the winner, you may allow the participants to do it. Two alternatives:
Question to the Participants: Which management team made the best performance? You are not allowed to vote for your own team. One vote per team. Allow 5 minutes discussion.
Answers: Many of the participants will vote for the team with the highest Market Value. The interesting votes are the others. Ask the groups to justify their answers.
Question: What company would you like to merge with? You are not allowed to vote for your own company. One vote per team. Allow 5 minutes discussion.
Answers: You will often find some very interesting explanations in their answers. The bankrupt company may find itself swarmed by suitors, because of their large intangible assets. The issues of how to handle cultural differences and different management styles will also come up.

People are revenues.

Question: What is the value of people in the simulation? What did you notice?
Suggested Answer: If you have no people you have no revenues. Reducing the number of people reduces the revenues - and the profits. People cost salaries yes, but their real value come from what kind of revenues they can create. The Personnel. or Attract the Personnel.

"Sweat Shop" Strategy <--> Knowledge Strategy

Question: When looking back, what kind of strategy did you choose and how did you fulfil it?
Suggested Answer: There are two basic strategic options, to go for the low-cost /non-challenging customers/people =(Cost Leader or "Sweat shop boys") or the high-cost/challenging customers/people =(Knowledge Strategy). Most teams go for Knowledge, but most also find that someone else is ahead of them. To turn to the "Sweat shop" strategy is then often very successful, because they will be alone. Check whether any team chose that voluntarily. Ask how they made that decision.
Note that in a Cost Leader strategy the emphasis is much more on costs, hence the issue of what people cost, become more important than the revenues they bring. Also remind them that both strategies are perfectly viable and both can be unsuccessful as well. The choice is a matter of how they perceive the alternatives and it is their choice! Managing the Strategic Dilemma.

Perception vs. Reality

Question: Why did so many of you choose the Knowledge Strategy? Or
Question: Why did you not change your strategy? Or
Question: (to a team that has missed to utilize a Knowhow or Image advantage) Why did you not utilize the opportunity?
Suggested Answer: Many will probably answer that they reacted as they usually do at home or that they did not perceive that they had an advantage. This shows how difficult it is to change. This is the negative side of experience: to be unconsciously guided by oneīs perceptions of reality at home. This may not be reality at all. This mismatch between managersī perceived reality and Reality is the most common cause of downfall of companies. (You may mention some topical cases, like the railways in the USA, IBM and the PC).

Competitive advantage = Window in time

Question: How do did you utilize the opportunities in the markets?
Suggested Answer: Make a silent note each cycle which of the teams get ahead of the others in knowhow or image levels and how they utilize that opportunity. You will in the final debriefing session be able to pinpoint lost opportunities, i.e. one team being lucky with a clog and thereby the only one reaching image level 3, but not aggressively going for the customers/people. Do not openly remind teams during the simulation, unless the team really needs assistance and is lagging behind. It is an essential management skill to detect such opportunities.

Virtuous vs. Vicious Circles

Question: Did any of you make a significant change in strategy? Or a turnaround?
Suggested Answer: Check if any of the teams were able to do a turnaround from i.e. a bankruptcy or a raid on their personnel and praise them for their achievement. Knowledge organizations are either on their way up or on their way down. They are inherently unstable, and flexibility is one of the key virtues. The Vicious Circle.

Market Segmentation (or Differentiation)

Question: How did you choose customers?
Suggested Answer: Some will answer that they chose "triangular" or "squares" etc. Draw their attention to the fact that selecting customers according to whether you can build a rapport with them or not is market segmentation and Niche strategy, however very different from what they probably have been taught in school. A Niche in a knowledge market can be a certain chemistry between people, which explains why so many small knowledge companies exist quite profitably in fiercely competitive markets. Customer Strategies.

The Value of Customers

Question: What did you get from the customers except money?
Suggested Answer: Competence (= learning for the staff), Image - and if this had been reality -projects which can be used as R&D, while at the same time bringing revenues. (Most consultancy firms use their customers for R&D). The customers bring an invisible flow of knowledge increasing the intangible assets. These flows are invisible only because we do not normally measure them, only the money flows. In the simulation we bring these invisible flows to the surface by measuring them. See Measuring Intangible Assets.

The Risk in People

Question: What risks did you notice as regards investing in people? How can one reduce the risks?
Suggested Answer: They will mention a number of risks and a number of measurements. You may add that it is generally a low risk to invest in people if you are able to deliver what they want, i.e. if you have promised "Knowhow" when you recruited someone, and you are able to stay at least equal to others, they stay. Also, by investing in R&D, you make the company less vulnerable.

Information

Question: Which information was most valuable to you during the session?
Suggested Answer: Some might answer that they had very little information, some might mention a few of the ratios on the sheets or the follow-up that was done between the years. Some looked at their boards at did not bother about the numbers at all.
In the simulation they had the booklet filled with data about the future. They could have calculated market developments, segment growth forecasts, etc. They had full view over their competitorsī movements. They could even have allocated one of them as the "Intelligence Officer".
Clarify that information is never "there", but it has to be created by someone. Their choice of information channels (or absence of choice), determines their perception of reality. Never let the In-basket or the media steer you!

Importance of Size

Question: In what way does size have an effect?
Suggested Answer: We tend to believe that there exists a positive economy-of-scale in production. This is to some extent still true in manufacturing, but wrong elsewhere.
Very extensive research proves that large organisations are not more efficient than small ones (measured as output or profit per employee). There even exists a negative economy-of-scale in service and particularly in creative work. This is because creative people perish in bureaucracies. This effect can however not be simulated in Tango (because the "people" are cards).
A large firm is more difficult to manage, which leads to managerial inefficiencies! This is also the case in Tango, since the teams running larger firms tend to run into time constraints, because of their complex operation. This leads to less time for discussions and information gathering.
Managers in knowledge organizations quote some positive Economies-of scope. These exist in reality and can also be found in the simulation:
Risk in R&D the same R&D-project; may cost the same, but is felt as a less risk in a larger firm. The cash drain can be the difference between profit and loss in the small firm.
Image; the large firm can run more projects, thereby exposing itself to more customers gaining more reputation.
Chemistry Fit; the large firm has a larger pool of people to draw upon, thereby more chemistries to choose from and a higher likelihood to find the best match.

Quality

Question: What is quality in the simulation?
Suggested Answer: The concept of quality in Tango is the gap between the customerīs expectation of how a project turns out, compared with how the knowledge company is perceived to fulfil these expectations. Quality in service industries is "the positive surprise". Customers do not compare the local restaurant with Fouquet in Paris, they compare what they get with what they expected. This may turn out to be a very favourable comparison in the local restaurant, but a disaster at Fouquet, depending on the level of expectation.
In Tango the Image gain/loss you will make in project depends both on chemistry and on the competence of the team. If a team has a perfect rapport with a customer, it is more likely that they will solve also the unexpected, which will come as a positive surprise. If it is a 2+1 project and you staff it with a 3+1 team, the customer will get more than s/he asked for and will be surprised by the quality of your work.

Organizational Culture

Question: Do you detect any cultural differences among the companies?
Suggested Answer: They ought to detect two kinds of organizational culture, one being the team culture the participants have developed during the simulation. The other being the blend of people and customers and their chemistries they have developed in Tango. In mergers, the most difficult issue is how to resolve the differences in organizational cultures. This is why some 2/3 of all mergers in real life are failures.
Note: If two teams decide to merge in Tango, check how they cope with their cultural differences, both among themselves and with the people they have employed and use it as a learning opportunity. Ask them to reflect on how they handled the merger process.

The Rift between Managers and Professionals

Question: Who are you in the simulation? How did you handle the professionals?
Suggested Answer: The participants are the Managers. The professionals are the "people" in the simulation. Use this as a lead into explaining the difference between managers and professionals in knowledge organizations. The Personnel. . Discuss why managers are (or perceive they are forced) to handle people in a ruthless manner.

The Life Cycle of Professional Knowledge

Question: Draw the Life Cycle Develop the Competence of the Personnel. on the whyte board and discuss the professional career vs. the managerial career. What can be done about ageing experts?
Suggested Answer: See Develop the Competence of the Personnel..

Utilizing Capacity

Question: Ask the participants to calculate their break-even point.
Suggested Answer: See Utilising Capacity. .

The Issue of Profitability

Question: When is a company profitable?
Suggested Answer: The issue of profit is not as simple as many may believe. Use the profit trend of one of the companies as an example. It is often erratic, due to investments in R&D.; When is a company more profitable, the year it invests for the future or the year it lives from last yearsī investments? Some of the teams may have used over-experienced people as a means to increase their Image. Most companies measure that cost, but not the invisible gain in Image. Some of the participants may correctly answer that they found cash flow more important. If you are an accountant you may use this as a lead into a small lecture about key ratios and performance measuring.

Team Learning Process

Question: Reflect on your dialogue in the team. Compare the first cycle (Year 2) with the last one. Do you notice any changes in how you conduct the discussions? In how you make decisions? Take 5 minutes to discuss this in the team.
Suggested Answer: Some will answer that they have had a good discussion all the time. Some will probably answer that they are more efficient now. Praise teams that answer something like "in the beginning we did not listen to one or two of the team members, but we have changed behaviour". A team that gives such an answer has made a significant team learning accomplishment and is able to utilize the full capacity of the competence and even make 1+1=3. They have created a rapport that did not exist before and they will from now on have an enhanced ability to communicate. Refer to the concept of Chemistry!
You may also mention that teams with poor team processes never rank among the best in the simulation. If the teams have been put together randomly, it is very likely that you will have had one team with poor chemistry fit. If they are psychologically in a mood to share their experience, you have an excellent case to discuss and learn from. Use this opportunity. But never bring their difficulties up "on stage" unless they volunteer.

Individual Learning Process

Question: What came as a surprise to you as an individual during the simulation? You must answer individually.
Suggested Answer: In an action learning situation like Tango, surprise is a measure of learning. It means that some event has transcended the unconscious barriers that filter all we learn. The surprises are therefore different for all of us.
See to it that you receive an answer from each one of the participants. This question is often best as the final question of the debrief, because they are likely to comment upon their experience in such a favourable manner that it creates good finale! Note: Record their answers, you will soon have created your own personal portfolio of issues and answers that you can expect.

The Critical Incidents Approach to Debriefing

A number of incidents happen haphazardly during a Tango simulation. Record them mentally or on a paper (recommended!) and use them as the trigger of a comment during one of the debriefing sessions, either between the years or in the Final Debrief. Here are some incidents that you may look out for:

The Critical Incident Method makes the simulation livelier and provides a closer link to reality for the participants. It is also more exciting for the facilitator, since you do not know on beforehand what you are going to talk about! This method appears to the participants as a random process, but it takes careful preparation to be able to handle it well. The method also functions very well in channelling frustrations, if it is used as a positive lead into one of the issues!

Frequently Asked Questions ( FAQ )

Question: When will you computerize Tango? It takes too long to calculate by hand.
Suggested Answer: The concept of learning behind the design is: Humans learn by recreating the learning process of more experienced persons, not by being told. We also learn with our bodies. Management is about people and managers interact with people not with computers. People have different experiences, therefore the same event is interpreted differently.
A computer simulation is a black box, so you try to figure out how the "system" works. You play against the computer, instead of learning from how real people behave in the room. Everything in the Tango simulation is transparent; you need not outguess the computer programmer. It is like unbundling a beautiful flower, which changes according to the viewer. A computerized simulation is closed. If the computer calculates everything for you, you will not learn the relationships in your body.

Question: Why is Tango designed like a board game with chips and cards? It seems oldfashioned and inefficient.
Suggested Answer: On the contrary! Tango is supermodern and more efficient than a computer simulation. It is in fact much more difficult to design a physical interface than a computer program. We have used a lot of computer power to design Tango, but the interface to the learner is designed so that you can feel and touch the physical objects. (Tango is from Latin and means "I touch"). This is because Tango utilizes all our senses, not only the eyes as in a computer simulation. When the participants combine eyes and ears with touching and moving around in a Tango simulation they subconsciously absorb enormous amounts of information per hour.
By sitting in a room together with other people we also learn unconsciously from their movements and we even smell the atmosphere! One hour of Tango therefore gives you several times more information than one hour of computer simulation in front of a screen. This is why we can say that Tango is more efficient than computer simulations.

Question: Diverse personalities make more creative teams. Why does Tango seem to teach the opposite? (Often asked in the US, seldom in Europe).
Suggested Answer: The participant has not fully understood the concept of Chemistry. Explain again that Chemistry can be seen as the "Rapport" between people or the communication channel. A personīs Personality in Tango is the combination of all characteristics on the ID-cards, Chemistry is only one of these characteristics. There are 48 persons in Tango, they all have different personalities.

Question: People in the simulation do not have salary as first criterion. Why? In my experience they often have!
Suggested Answer: This is a choice made by the designers, because salary is seldom first priority in knowledge industries, except maybe for people who deal very direct with money or whose performance is measured in money. Examples are the financial sector or among sales people. However even then, salary is important mainly because it conveys a tangible proof of success. Salary as first criterion can be incorporated easily if you like, but it will not change your strategy decision process.

Question: Mergers. Why must one of the companies acquire the other for cash? It drains the resources, and we intend to merge on equal footing.
Suggested Answer: Acquisition for cash is the only technique you are allowed, because you have no real owners and no board to deal with here. It would be to simple to merge without any cash consequences. In real life managers are never allowed to merge without the consent of their owners.

Question: Quality is very important in Knowledge work, but quality is not covered in Tango. Why?
Suggested Answer: Quality is covered. See Final Debrief.

Question: Why are People handled very ruthlessly in Tango? (Often asked by HR people).
Suggested Answer: Use this question as a lead into the ethical dilemma facing managers with a bottom-line responsibility. One reason for the apparent ruthlessness is that the people in the simulation are not real people. But the more important issue is: Why did you as managers handle them ruthlessly? Why did you to fire people or not developing them, so they left you disappointed? Why did you try to trade them between yourselves as goods? What are the forces behind this kind of behaviour?