Author Archives: ExperiencePoint

FABULOUS FACILITATORS

Dr. Joseph R. D’Cruz

As the Academic Director for several Rotman Healthcare and Public School Leadership programs, I have always included an ExperiencePoint simulation because of their proven value as learning and engagement tools. Compared with simulations from other vendors, EP simulations deliver better value, are more robust and are supported by excellent customer service, making it a no brainer to include them in our plans for the future.

I had two opportunities to work closely with James and Greg in developing the Central-Valleyview and Lakeview sims which were both developed as partnerships with Rotman. This permitted me to get ‘under the hood” with the EP team and get to understand the depth and sophistication of their underlying sim engine. This showed me that writing the case and the stakeholder interviews was only the start of a elaborate process of determining the impacts of various tactics, sequencing issues and creating context-sensistive feedback from the ‘Coach’.”

Dr. Joseph R. D’Cruz
Professor of Strategic Management

Rotman School of Management, University of Toronto
105 St. George Street
Toronto, ON, M5S 3E6

PARTNER SPOTLIGHT

Tammy Heermann, Knightsbridge

Knightsbridge began working with The Business Development Bank of Canada (BDC) in 2008 to develop a multi-strategy custom program to equip senior leaders with the necessary skills to lead in an ever-changing and competitive business environment. The “Leading the Future” program contains 4 modules that increase the effectiveness of leaders through greater self-awareness and increased ability to influence, collaborate, inspire their teams and lead change at both a personal and organizational level. The GlobalTech change simulation was a participant highlight of the program, allowing leaders to practice leading change and influencing stakeholders in an engaging way.  In October 2011, Knightsbridge and BDC won Gold at the Canadian Society of Training & Development’s (ASTD International Partner) Training Excellence awards.  Read More: Knightsbridge Press Release

Tammy Heermann
Director Custom Leadership Programs, Leadership Solutions

Knightsbridge
2 Bloor Street East, 30^th Floor
Toronto, ON M4W 1A8
www.knightsbridge.ca

FABULOUS FACILITATORS

Professor Dan Ondrack

 I’ve been the Academic Director of several Executive Programs where we’ve used the ExperienceChange GlobalTech simulation.  I believe we were one of the first adopters of the new simulation when it came out.  It’s a core part of our executive programs in Managing Strategic Change for both open-enrolment and numerous custom programs for business and government clients.

There are a number of key advantages for using the GT simulation in our courses.  First, students gain practical and real-time experience in applying the theories of organization analysis and change management that they learned in class.  Second, the simulation is very realistic and engaging and student evaluations always stress how much they enjoyed the interesting and practical experience.   The experience of planning and implementing a change strategy and then seeing the scores for the results of their strategy compared to scores for other teams appeals strongly to competitive motivations.  Third, since the students work in teams to do the analysis, strategic planning and implementation in the simulation, this also provides an excellent opportunity to learn and practice team management skills.

We emphasize this aspect a lot in custom programs for corporate clients where one of the educational objectives is development of team management skills.  Finally, I have also worked with ExperiencePoint to develop some custom modifications of the GT simulation to focus on developing management skills in organization analysis.  These versions of the GT simulation are used for our programs where we teach due-diligence in programs on Mergers and Acquisitions, and SWOT analysis in programs on Corporate Strategy and Management Consulting.    In all of our years in working with ExperiencePoint, we have been extremely satisfied with the sophistication of their simulations and especially with their level of service to us and corporate clients.

Professor Dan Ondrack

Executive Program

Rotman School of Management,
University of Toronto
105 St. George Street
Toronto, ON, M5S 3E6

FABULOUS FACILITATORS

Professor Ann Armstrong

I first met Greg [Warman] when ExperiencePoint was starting up. It was then, and remains today, an exciting Canadian success story in educational innovation.  As technology changes (I remember their CD-ROMs in the early days) they continue to innovate and lead the way.

I recently wrote up the ExperiencePoint story in the second edition of my organization design and theory textbook and was delighted to share the story. My hope is that the readers will be get inspired by EPs story as it is a quintessential Canadian and international success.

When I teach and consult in change management, I use EP’s simulations. The participants love learning through the simulations and are unanimous in their appreciation of having the opportunity to learn through doing!

Even more gratifying for me, ExperiencePoint has provided career opportunities for some of my former students.

Professor Ann Armstrong

Lecturer and Director, Social Enterprise Initiative
Rotman School of Management
105 St. George Street
Toronto, ON, M5S 3E6

We sat down with Peter Coughlan, a senior partner at IDEO and a principal contributor to the Design Thinker game experience, and asked him for his thoughts on the differences between the simulation and real world design thinking.

Read the Full Article (pdf)