In corporate 'Spy Game,' work equals play

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Fraser said his company has only run "The Spy Game" about four times so far, and that none of the clients that experienced it directly were available to comment for this story.

But Paul Kim, a director of product marketing at Mozilla, said his company has high regard for the exercises in "The Go Game."

"We were really, really happy with the end results," said Kim. "It really does pull on the various experiences and talents of the people involved in each team. And because it's done in a way that integrates the physical environment with the overall structure of the game, it really takes it over the top."

Kim's enthusiasm is mirrored by Jim Bell, president of the San Diego construction company Pro Built, a client of TeamBuildingUSA.com.

"It gets you all thinking along the same pattern, and you start to see each other not so much as obstacles as you do helpers," Bell said. "It took some of the 'I'm in charge' out of the thing and put in some of the 'Let's get it done.'"

With many members of the Fortune 500 clearly endorsing team building games, it's clear there's serious money in it for the Go Games and TeamBuildingUSA.coms of the world.

Indeed, Taylor said TeamBuildingUSA.com charges clients as much as $225 a person, for groups that can number in the hundreds. The more people, the less the per-person fee is.

Similarly, Fraser said The Go Game typically charges about $100 a head and can facilitate groups of 3,000 or more. For "The Spy Game," the groups are limited to about 250 people.

Companies seem to be willing to pay that much because they feel the games get results.

"What I thought was good about it was that it gets you out of the mundane and loosens everyone else and brings in the camaraderie," said Bell. "That was the big thing, that it brought in the camaraderie. We were out of our element. You're not wearing a suit."

[Elzeal]

How to Win

or: How to keep your friggin' Job!

Anyone caught by this Corporate game/trap should know first off that this is not about Succeeding. It's about Keeping your Job.
DO NOT be primarily responsible for Succeeding in these quests, especially if your Direct Boss or his boss or any of their Darlings are 'questing' with you.
Being the One who Leads one of those 'Royals' to the Solution would be a good thing. But you're not that clever. You could get a promotion if you were, but better leave that to the Accomplished Brown-nosers.

Now don't sit there like a lump. That's a sure way to get fired, probably within three weeks after the exercise. You know the guy with that destiny, the fellow that eats another donut while the rest of the lunch crowd is in an animated conversation.

Be involved to some good degree, keep moving, be seen to some degree by at least one of the 'Royals', preferably providing the solution to some minor aspect of the main problem.

You don't want to be a Show-Off. Never make a 'Royal' look bad or feel bad. Solving a puzzle Right Before a 'Royal' seems ready to get it -- that's worse than suicide.

Those folks are So sensitive to ego-jabbing. They are always imagining what chatter may be flying at the water fountain. Getting shown-up by the same underling too often will make them irritable or worse.

Mediocre is the way to go, with a side order of somewhat-competant.

[Pop4]

"Creative Gamer"; caught with the last Krispy Kreme.

99' was an exciting year for me. The game was a "Power Point" presentation for Naumann Hobbs, Inland Hobbs, Power Kymatsu Rentals . This was my 'Intern Year' and down sizing was my inevitadlility; along with poor spelling.
However, I cleared three competitor's on my site-map before my assigned team manager's tallied my reports and took the plunge themselves.
The end result was a far cry in the other direction; for them not me. Little did I know. The presentation went as expected I guess.
I never renewed my second year contract; and the soon to be aquired Toyota Dealer I presumed became the mission statement for my successor.

Party on!

[Ipod Apple]

Mediocre is the way to go

http://www.analogstereo.com/volvo_262_264_265_owners_manual.htm