Isivivane Game DIY

8/9/2019 Isivivane Game DIY

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Facilitation Guide

Game of KnowledgeTransformation &Co-operation

Facilitation C

ards

Africas Isivivane Game ofKnowledge, Transformation and

Co-operation helps diverse individuals

work harmoniously to realise a shared

dream. (It works for individuals too!)

The Game provides structure for the

design and management of complex

projects. Isivivane creates community

spirit and purpose. Since participants

design their Game together, they have a

commitment to outcomes and

ownership of process. The cards can be

used to stimulate knowledge sharing,

transformation, improved service

delivery and empowered interpersonal

relationships.

Also ideal for strategic planning,

innovation, product development and

the design of sustainable systems and

cultures.

Isivivane works well with a variety ofaudiences, from kids to world leaders.

TO PREPARE: Print document on

A3 paper or card Cut out facilitation guide Punch holes and bind Cut out cards into circles Stick front and back together,

keeping the pairs matched

Your Isivivane boardroom game is ready to play!


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Playing the IsivivaneGame has the effect ofsuspending normal reality.This allows players toreflect on key questionsusing a broader perspec-tive than their position inthe organisation normallygives them. A circle isvisible only when you step

outside it.

About the Isivivane game

The Isivivane game helps you see com-

plex realities in new, more empowering

ways and suggests that whatever people

do can be seen as a game. A game is a

socially constructed sequence of actions

that includes elements such as vision,

goals, language, resources, style, values,

rules, roles and rituals. Its the way

these elements interact with each other

that creates the experience unique to a

particular game.

Cards

The 9 cards are laid out on a table or

floor, relative to the points of the com-

pass.

The centre card represents the vision or

dream of what needs to be achieved.

The other 8 cards have a dynamic rela-

tionship with the vision and each other.

This system provides the information

and structure necessary to action the

vision into reality.

Players

The game can be played by one or more

people. They must want to play.


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Facilitator

The facilitator guides the process, allow-

ing players to generate and record ideas

in a safe space. The purpose of the ques-

tions on the cards is to generate conver-

sations and input. When agreement is

reached, the responses are recorded.

When all information has been gathered,

it is read out to participants who maythen further vote on key issues as a

group.

Outputs

What emerges from the input is that

everyone has a clear vision of everybody

elses viewpoints and of the way ahead.

Participants also have the experience of

contribution to a process.

Feedback

The facilitator compiles the results into a

feedback document that players can refer

to as a reminder of the event and the

agreed actions going forward.


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Out of

Nothing comesSomethingFrom Visioncomes Reality

To be read out by facilitator

These are the rules of the game:

Everyone agrees to provide input

We all agree that this is a safe space

and that we are all free to voice our

deeply-held opinions without fear of

witch-hunts or repercussions after-

wards

Lively discussion is encouraged

When everyone agrees that they have

provided input, then all input is read

out to the collective

Voting by show of hands is encouraged

We commit that feedback will be writ-

ten down and circulated to all partici-

pants within 24 hours of the session

TIPS

Should participants be stuck in the past

and reluctant to engage in vision of the

future, it is helpful to describe two

separate games.

1. The game as it has been played and

2. The new game; as everyone wants it

played in the future. The difference

between the two games represent the

changes that need to be made, with the

new game describing the desired end

state. This approach is also useful inchange management projects.


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TIP

Dream BIG. Create big vision stories of

the future in which everybody gets what

they want. Inject interest, drama, ex-

citement and humour into the vision.

Remember: While going through the

other cards, focus must always return

to this card. The vision is the organising

principle that runs and holds the game

together.

Process... the beginning

1. Discuss the vision. This is the story of

some ideal future state, a vivid word

picture that describes what everyone

wants. It is important to describe the

vision in great detail so that it be-

comes a compelling strange attractor

that pulls everyone towards it... and

the future. This could take a long

time, in which case it is advisable to

set aside two sessions; the first to

decide the vision and a second ses-

sion to provide input on the questions

on the other 8 cards.

...continued

VISIONDream up big vision stories

of the future in whicheverybody gets what they want.

Inject interest, drama, excitementand humour into the vision.

QUESTIONS:What is the name of the game

we want to play?What is this game designed

to achieve?What tells us that were

playing the gamereally well?


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Jumping over the crocodile

When painful history is ritualised, we let

danger rest so we may get past for the

duration of this process and collectively

plan for what we want to experience in

the future.

Process ...continued

2. With a small group (less than 15),

participants engage with each cards

questions until everyone has supplied

input. If there are more than 15

people, you need to assign each card

to a scribe, who becomes responsible

for recording input from all partici-

pants. (Scribes can become normal

participants and normal participants

can become scribes.)

3. When everybody is happy that they

have provided input to all the ques-

tions, presenters read the responses

back to all participants, voting and

updating where necessary.

...continued


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Goals (East). While the attitudes of

gameplaying should always be light-

hearted, often the outcomes of games

such as M&A, restructuring, rightsizing

and day trading can be deadly serious.

Every game has a goal, even if the goal

is to simply continue playing the game

in a sustainable manner or to overcome

obstacles. While soccer, rugby and

cricket matches come to an end with

winners and losers, the Game in which

all are winners, continues season after

season.

Typical goals of business games might

include sustainable profits, the creation

of wealth and having rewarding inter-

personal relationships. For organisa-

tions, goals are normally articulated in

Vision and Mission statements and in

strategic plans.

On a personal level, your narrative or

story articulates your goals as experi-

enced through your identity. What are

your personal goals? What are the goals

of the games that you are playing? Do

they contradict each other? Are the

goals worth the effort? How have you

reached clarity and agreement withyour fellow players about what the goals

and nature of the game are?

EAST: GOALS

Every game has goals.Goals of designed games might

include long-term success,prosperity, sustainability, profitability,

happiness, making a difference and havingrewarding interpersonal relationships.

QUESTIONS:Who else has done this well andwhat can we learn from them?

What are our goals and how do we ensurethey work in harmony?

How can we agree and get clarity andshared understanding about

the goals?


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TIPS

Everybody must get a turn. When the

softest voice has been heard, there may

be cohesion.

Is the story were teling helping us to

achieve the dream?

If you dont know the words, you cant

play the game.

Its the story you tell and the way that

you tell it that stimulates people to buy,

invest in, support and participate in your

dream.

A good story can motivate, provide hope,

inspire and change the entire mood. It

can give people a reason to get up in

the morning and be dedicated to long-

term efforts.

Many Africans hold that good stories

bring rain and prosperity, while bad

stories bring drought and war.


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Language and Stories (South East)

Every game has its own language which

allows participants to talk about and

create common experience.

Every field of human endeavour has its

own language, set of symbols, meta-

phors and figures of speech that are

continuously repeated.

What language do you engage in? Is it

the language of creativity, opportunity,

teamwork and success?

Could you appropriate language from

other areas to expand your experience

and describe your world?

SOUTH-EAST: LANGUAGEAND STORIES

Each game has a unique languagewhich allows participants to share

common experience.The stories we tell and the way we tell theminspire and create a collective vision of the

intended future.We talk the future into becoming.

QUESTIONS:What stories and words will get this

system working really well?Which words and stories do not

have a place in this game?


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IDEAS & EXPERIMENTS

Why not see whatever you do as a

game? Its not about being competitive

about everything, but about enjoying

the games you agree to play.

How could the games you play become

more interesting, rewarding and FUN?

Try to name the games around you

these could big games like the econo-

my, science, love, poverty, culture,

politics, medicine, parenting and war.

Are there some games you want to

enter? Are there some you wish to

leave? What do you have to sacrifice in

order to play? Can you be flexible

enough to play in different ways? Who is

inviting you to play? What are you

perceiving? How do others see it?


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Resources (South) It is likely that

money springs to mind when you hear

this word but resources also means

emotional support, know-how and

process knowledge, equipment, net-

works, access to information, support

systems and people you know. The

question of resources asks you to make

clear what it is you actually need to

make the game work. You may also

wish to see a well designed vision or

goal as a resource.

Make an inventory of all resources

you already have and start working with

them instead of alwats focusing on

those you dont yet have.

SOUTH: RESOURCESResources can mean anythingfrom money and equipment to

the talents and abilities of participants,financial support, emotional support,specialised know-how and intellectual

property, process knowledge, networks,

access to information, support systems,people you know and

well-designed visions and goals.

QUESTION:What resources do we need to make

the game work really well?


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How doyou

wantothersto see

you?


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Style (South West) Style is the way

you play the game and embodies your

behaviours, thoughts and words. No

matter what you are playing, you bring

your unique personal style to the game.

Style is learned and developed over

time and is strongly influenced by role

models, self-perception and particularly

by feedback. Much as sportsmen view

videos of their performance in order to

improve themselves, objective feedback

allows you to see which behaviours

provide desirable outcomes.

Where do you get your feedback from

and is it helping you to achieve the

vision? Are you flexible enough to ques-

tion your own style, open enough to ask

for feedback and creative enough to

experiment with new styles?

Are you aware that much of your style

is influenced by your early childhood

experiences and from observing how

others respond to situations?

SOUTH-WEST: STYLEStyle embodies difference

in behaviours, thoughts, stories,dress, artefacts, symbols and words.We bring our unique personal style

to each game we play.The game itself has a unique style.

Designing style is a creative process that is

developed over time and is strongly influencedby role models, self-perception,feedback and reflection.

QUESTIONS:Where do we get feedback about our style?What style will help us achieve our goals

and differentiate our gamefrom others?


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Values provide a basis for action and

communicate expectations for par-

ticipation; how the organisation

expects everyone to behave.

Values should endure and provide a

constant source of strength and

inspiration for the individual and theorganisation that holds them.

That which is not valued, should be

dealt with in a responsible manner.

Values are what you stand for and

believe in.


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Values (West) Values are standards or

qualities considered worthwhile or desir-

able. They are abstract ideas about what

an organisation, society or community

believes to be good, right and pleasing

They represent your deeply held beliefs

as demonstrated through day-to-daybehaviours and are the fundamental

principles that guide community-driven

processes. Values provide a basis for

action and communicate expectations

for participation and make a public

pronouncement about how the organisa-

tion expects everyone to behave.

It is important to understand that whilst

values are influenced by the culture

from which you come, you are ultimate-

ly responsible for constructing your

personal values. So spending time on

your values is an important exercise

which becomes more useful as you read

over and update them from time to time.

What values do you need to support in

order to play a particular game? Are

these values reinforced and expressed

in both your language and behaviour? Is

there a discrepancy between expressed

values and behaviour? How do you

come to know what values are required

to successfully play the games you areengaged in?

WEST: VALUESValues are standards or

qualities considered worthwhileor desireable. They are abstract ideasabout what participants believe to be

good, right and desireable. Values reflectour most deeply held beliefs, demonstrated

through day-to-day behaviours and are thefundamental principles that guide

community-driven processes.

QUESTIONS:What values do we need to play this

game really well?What needs to transform?


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The process ...continued

4. Once there is agreement, summarise

understandings reached and close the

session.

5. To close the session, the facilitator

asks each participant to summarise

what they have learned and whatthey now commit to as a result of the

process. This is recorded by a scribe

and will form part of the final feed-

back.

6. The facilitator commits to provide

feedback to participants within 24

hours of the session. This keeps the

initiative moving and refreshes mem-

ory of the important agreements

reached.

7. Refer to the plan and agreements

going forward on an on-going basis to

keep the process going. Find ways of

reflecting the agreements reached

using innovative media.

...end of process

More facilitation information, tips and

ideas are available on Isivivane.com


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Rules (North West) In order to play a

game well, you need to be clear about

the rules, both written and unwritten,

and work with them, stretching the

boundaries where possible.

Rules stipulate what can and cannot bedone and not playing by the rules

means you risk penalty or even exclu-

sion from the game.

Can the rules be bent or questioned?

Are the rules applied consistently? Are

the rules of the game stifling innovation

and creativity? Is everyone clear about

what the rules are?

NORTH-WEST: RULESIn order to play a game well,

we need to be clear about whatthe rules and patterns of success are;

both written and unwritten.Rules stipulate what can and cannotbe done and not playing by the rules

means penalty or even exclusionfrom the game.

QUESTIONS:What are the key rules of this game?

Which rules could stimulate innovationand creativity?

How can everyone be clear aboutthe rules of the game?


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More on the roles in this game:

Participants (players) are there to

provide honest responses to the ques-

tions and play the game.

The facilitator holds the safe-space,

reads the instructions and questionsand ensures everybody gets their say.

The facilitator records decisions and

votes and is responsible for providing

feedback to all participants following

the event.

The scribe records participants

answers to the questions. The scribe

can change roles and become a

participant in order to contribute to the

questioning process.

The presenter reads the collective

input for each card to all participants.

Should there be disagreement, deci-

sions can be taken via a show of hands,

recorded by the facilitator. Usually the

presenter is someone who is a scribe

who volunteers to present for a specific

card. It could also be someone who is

spontaneously chosen by the group. For

example, the facilitator may ask the

group: Who will present the answers forthe North-East?


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Roles (North) Every human being

plays a number of different roles in

different games in day-to-day life. In

addition to the kinship roles (you are

someones child, lover, brother or sister,

father or mother etc.) you probably play

many different roles in the workplace aswell. Think of the roles of friend, confi-

dante, coach, mentor, boss, subordinate

or even petty tyrant, that you play.

Are the roles clear to you? Are there

better ways to perform these roles? Are

you expending the appropriate amount

of energy in these roles? How would

you know if you were performing your

role exceptionally well or badly? Who

gives you feedback?

Organisational theorists have suggested

that work titles are like roles that are

performed by actors in movies. The

difference is that you interpret, direct,

script and perform the role yourself.

The challenge then is to perform the

role as best as you can without attach-

ment to it. Be open to new experience

by changing and evolving your perfor-

mance.

NORTH: ROLESSome organisational theories

suggest that work titles are like rolesperformed by actors in movies.

The difference is that we interpret, direct,script and perform the roles ourselves.

QUESTIONS:What roles do we need to play this

game really well?How can role-players work together

to achieve the desired results?How can we ensure that the

rules are enforced?How will we audit andmanage the game?


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TIP

Engage the language and metaphor of

play and experimentation in whatever

you do. Some languages engage this

concept in interesting ways: in high

forms of Japanese, for example, every

verb is preceded by saying played at.For example, I play at being the MD, I

play at being an artist, I play at being a

coach and I play at being a father and

even my father is playing at being dead.

Somehow the word play is a reminder

that you are still learning, experiment-

ing and growing in a light-hearted, open

way. Remember, it isnt just life and

death, it is a game. Enjoy it!


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Rituals (North East) A ritual refers to

speech, action, singing, and other ac-

tivities which often contain a symbolic

meaning, performed in a specific order.

In organisations, audits, year-end func-

tions, teambuilding and weekly meet-

ings are examples of typical rituals. Acharacteristic of ritual is that it has the

quality of collapsing time a 15 min-

ute presentation by the MD can encom-

pass many years of the organisations

history. Another characteristics of ritual

is that they can be performed so regu-

larly that they start to lose their mean-

ing and many people go through the

motions without quite understanding

what they are really doing and why. Be

clear about the rituals you engage in

and their outcomes. Are they really

necessary? Could they be changed,

simplified or even removed? What

relationships exist between rituals and

outcomes?

NORTH-EAST: RITUALSA ritual refers to speech, action,singing and other performanceswhich contain symbolic meaning.

Rituals provide a way for participantsto step out of the game temporarily,let off steam, then rejoin the game

with renewed energy andfresh perspective.

QUESTIONS:What rituals do we need

to make this game work really welland when do they happen?

How is the game choreographed?


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TIPS

Be clear about what games you are

engaged in, how much energy you

expend in playing, what results you

expect and why you are doing it.

Develop leadership intent around agame how would you like to see the

game in the future? What needs to

change to attain the positive outcomes?

More about game theory and traditionalAfrican Isivivane on www.isivivane.com

Place your stone upon the pilewww.isivivane.com

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