BUILDING CAPABILITIES FOR CHANGE THROUGH LABORATORY SIMULATIONS Developments in Business Simulation & Experiential Learning, Volume 26, 1999 BUILDING CAPABILITIES FOR CHANGE THROUGH LABORATORY SIMULATIONS Tojo Thatchenkery, George Mason University Ravi Behara, Florida Atlantic University Con Kenney, George Mason University ABSTRACT In this paper the authors describe the learning from a project at the Organizational Learning Laboratory at George Mason University as an attempt to bridge the gap between theory and practice. Using social constructionist perspectives, a recasting of reverse simulations is shown as an alternative to the traditional focus in simulations, which is to portray reality outside as faithfully as possible in the laboratory environment Utilizing appreciative inquiry as the overarching conversational forum, participants in the project created a product in record time by making the best use of the diverse talents of their team members dispersed across organizational hierarchies. INTRODUCTION Simulations have long been used as a way to mitigate the risk of the real world in a wide variety of contexts. However, they are all based on an overarching assumption that they are simulating the real world. Therefore, a simulation designer must be a careful observer with a highly developed skill for prediction by transforming the simulation into a microcosm of the real world. The objective of this paper is to demonstrate an alternative called reverse simulation. Karl Weick (1976) several years ago wrote about the notion of reverse simulation in organizations. Instead of trying the simulate reality, do the opposite. Let the real world operate like a laboratory! Thus, the questions we encounter in the laboratory are how to create and model new forms of organizational processes and structures that are very different from what are available outside, and make those possibilities replicated in the real world. This is accomplished by observing the nature of the relationship that allow a phenomena to occur in the laboratory and later figuring out how to transplant not just the phenomena but more importantly, the nature of the relationship. Application The Organizational Learning Laboratory (OLL) is a state-of-the art facility located in the George W. Johnson Center, a newly constructed learning space for student life and technological innovation at George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia. The Laboratory creates a facilitated learning environment for reflectively understanding and thereby improving various organizational processes. The laboratory is equipped with 1) a groupware laboratory consisting of several computers networked with an array of hardware and software designed to enhance collaborative learning and 2) a simulation and modeling space capable of running both computer and non-computer management simulations and modeling. One of the engagements the laboratory staff accepted was a project to redesign the loan processing of a Fortune 50 financial services organization. The task was complex, involving a high degree of combining technical information and information systems redesign. Due to the high degree of complexity, the task couldn’t be accomplished by a few individuals. Therefore, to begin with, the organization committed over a dozen key employees who would be affected by the new process and who would have to implement the new system. Employees of this organization were used to working in an environment devoting singular attention to their own functional specialties. It was by excelling in their own business areas that one could progress within the organization. Within that context, the notion of working together with people they have never worked together before was provocative. Team members felt the strangeness of the unfamiliar and yet expressed a desire to experiment and see what happens. From a reverse simulation perspective, the objective of the laboratory staff was to devise a methodology that would work in the laboratory, then reflectively 144 Developments in Business Simulation & Experiential Learning, Volume 26, 1999 understand what made it work, and finally transplanting the entire structure and processes that made it work. What happened during the project was truly emergent Yet there were a few steps that we planned in advance to keep the design as close to one of reverse simulation. Obtaining commitment and support from top management The organization committed that the team members would be released to be at the laboratory site for the entire two weeks, six hours every day. Initiation into the laboratory philosophy In addition to talking about the principles behind laboratory experimentation, the concept of reverse simulation was also explained to them. The laboratory staff underscored the importance of “thinking outside the box,” looking at problems with a fresh eye, and the role language plays in creating reality. Creating the learning climate for the reverse simulation using appreciative inquiry. Appreciative inquiry (Al) is the overall interpretive scheme (Bartunek, 1984) used in the laboratory. Al (Coopemder and Srivastva, 1987) focuses on what is working in an organization or group. The inquiry begins with a process of affirmation of the basic “goodness” that exist in the group and tries to create a climate of collaboration and true inquiry within the unit Step 4. Paying attention to the content and process at the same time Throughout the two weeks participants were taught to pay attention to both the content and the process of their deliberations. The primary task of the group was to design and test a new loan processing mechanism at a certain stage in the life of the loan. In the process, they developed a sophisticated understanding of reverse simulation. They discovered that the secret is not in any technique but in their ability for creating conditions similar to the one that existed in the laboratory. REFERENCES Bartunek, J.M. (1984). Changing interpretive schemes and organizational restructuring: An example of a religious order. Administrative Science Quarterly, 29, 355-372. Cooperrider, D., & Srivastva, S. (1987). Appreciative inquiry in organizational life. Research in Organizational Change and Development, 1, 129- 169. Weick, K. (1976). Reverse Simulation. In M. Dunnette. (Ed). Handbook of industrial and organizational psychology. Chicago: Rand McNally. 145 Table of Contents Volume 26, 1999 ABSEL's Historical Research Interests Back From the Future: An ABSEL Merlin Exercise for the Year 2005 The Contributions of ABSEL During the 1980's ABSEL's Contributions to Experiential Exercises in the 90's ABSEL's Contributions to Experiential learning/Experiential Exercises: The Decade of the 1970's Business Simulations - Algorithms and Model Enhancements: A 25 year Review A Study of the ETS General Field Test as an AACSB Assessment Tool and the Impact of Experiential Exercises and Simulation on Learning A Framework for Assessing the Competencies Reflected in Simulation Performance Developing A Learning Culture: Assessing Changes in Student Performance and Perception Financial Simulation Using Distributed Computing Technology Analyzing Managers' Judgements and Decisions with an Educational Business Simulation Understanding Your Business through Home-Made Simulator Development An Examination of a Reanalysis of the Impact of a Market Leader on Simulation Competitors' Strategies Applying Shocks to TE Simulations: A Demonstration Increasing Efficiency of Management Skill Assessment A Testbank for Measuring Total Enterprise Simulation Learning Developing Leadership Skills - Video Live! LEADSIMM: Collaborative Leadership Development for the Knowledge Society A Team Approach to Producing Multi-Media Laptop and Video Formatted Presentation Tinkertoys Revisited: Exploring Trust Based Relationships Overall Dominance in Total Enterprise Simulation Performance Success or Bankruptcy: The Relationship between Personal and Goal Orientation and Simulation Performance Assessing the Effects of Feedback: Muti-method and Muti-directions in Multi-pedagogical Courses The Missing Ingredients in Experiential Learning Purpose and Learning Benefits of Business Simulations: A Design and Development Perspective Building Capabilities for Change through Laboratory Simulations Modeling Innovation as a Process of Design in Educational Business Simulation The Need to Measurer variance in Experiential Learning and a New Statistic to do so Assessing Effectiveness of an Experiential Oriented Course Over Time Developing Participant Satisfaction Models of Experiential Exercises in Business Education Perceptions of Learning in TE Simulations Students' View on the Use of Business Gaming in Hong Kong Management Gaming's Lost Opportunity: Meditations about the Russian Experience and Prospects for the Future Unanticipated Enhancements in the Business Strategy and Policy Game when Running in Windows 95 Using a Business Game to Demonstrate Broad Business Concepts A New Model for Business Courses (Getting the Student Connected) Seeing the Forest and the Trees: Integrating Knowledge Using Large Scale Simulations in Capstone Business Strategy Classes Is It Here To Stay? A Roundtable Discussion of the Inter-Group Interaction Interactive Tools Used in Applying Financial Concepts Strengthening Essential Skills through a Finance Exercise: Calculation of Beta A Model of Currency Exchange Rates Understanding Currency Exchange Rates: A three-part Exercise Student Experiences in the World Intercollegiate Business Game Competition Student Experiences in the International-Collegiate Business Policy Game Competition Using Boards of Directors in Simulation Environments: Comments From Board Members Sharing Best Practices: Teaching Smarter, Not Harder Star Power: A Simulation for Understanding Power and Empowerment The Marketing Game: A Marketing Principles Simulation Alexander Islands: GSSM Tiny Business Simulator on the WWW Putting Strategy into Strategic Business Games Industry Analysis, Porter's Five Forces Model and Strategic Group Maps in the Business Strategy Game Simulation The Use of Concept Mapping to Improve Student Performance and Understanding of Strategic Management Concepts: A Comparison of Techniques Transformational thinking in the Organizational Behavior Course: The Use of Metaphor as an Assessment Tool Creation of a Virtual Learning Community for the Global Virtual Enterprise Project Inter Institutional use of Educational Resources: Joint Use of Management Simulation Games Business Insights: Theory and Practice with the Aid of a Business Simulation Progress: An Experiential Exercise in Development Marketing The ABC's of teaching the Theory of Constraints to Undergraduate Business Students Demonstrating Principles of Organizational Purchasing Behavior through an Experiential Exercise The Virtual Manager: A Different Simulation for Managing Complexity When the Rules are changing and Chaos Breeds Innovation: Recapturing the Value of Constructive Thinking and Play in Simulation Training The Pitfalls, and Potential, of Actual Events as Problem Drivers Using Business Games to teach Environmental Awareness and Green Management: The International Experience with the ENSIM Game A Review of my ABSEL-Related Work Simulation of Government: A Workshop Using GEO Creating Internet-Based Games Using Perl and JavaScript Who's on First? Exploring the Concepts of Problem-Based Learning, Experiential Learning, and Lifelong Learning Students Learn Customer Service and Selling while Conducting Research So You Want to Run an NFL Football Team–An Honors Interdisciplinary Project Supervised Internship: The Employer's Perspective Using Computer Assisted Simulation to Teach International Business Strategy: A Case of the Multinational Management Game (MMG) Multi-Cultural Experiential Learning: A Computer Simulation in China An Appreciative Stance on Diversity as We Move into the 21st Century: A Timeline Exercise to Identify Key Experiences in Good Work Relationships between Black and White Peers A Day in the Life of an Interactive, Real Time, and Internet Delivered Course: A Demonstration Comparing Internet Search Engines: An Experiential Learning Exercise Total Enterprise Simulations and the Internet: Assessing Student Perceptions and Preferences Teaching Accounting Information Systems in a Practicum Format Providing Experiential Learning in Accounting through a Field Study Payroll Project A Spreadsheet Based Business Simulation Game Computer-Behavioral Simulations Training for Project Managers Simulation Scenarios - Rationale and Illustration