You are leading a major change programme across an organisation of 20 influencers. Your goal is to move 18 of them to full Adoption within 96 weeks, without running out of credibility. Every action you take costs time, and some cost (or earn) credibility. Choose wisely.
| Prepare | See everyone in the organisation, their current stage, advocacy, and role. Hover or tap a person card for more detail. This is your home base. |
| Analyse | View the network as a radial map or influence matrix. Spot clusters of allies, tensions between people, and outside connections. Use this to decide who to target. |
| Decide | Choose and play levers (actions). Each lever has a time cost, a credibility impact, and a target scope (whole org, a group, or an individual). This is where you make your moves. |
| News | Read scenario context and event updates. The news feed gives flavour and sometimes hints about what is happening in the organisation. |
| Overview | Your dashboard: progress chart, live scorecard, and the Advisor (3 uses, each costs 1 week). The Advisor analyses your current situation and gives contextual guidance. |
Every person has four key attributes:
| 🔄 | Restart — reset the game to week 0 (saves are preserved). |
| ↩ | Undo — take back your last move (one level only). |
| ? | Help — this guide. |
| 📄 | Kotter — Kotter's 8-Step model with sequencing advice and lever mapping. |
| 💾 | Saves — save and load games or setup configurations. |
| ⚙ | Config — instructor-only settings (requires PIN). Adjust people, levers, and engine parameters. |
| 🌙 | Theme — toggle between light and dark mode. |
The Trainer tab is a separate learning tool that lets you practise interpersonal communication styles:
The Trainer module runs independently of the main simulation. Use it to build intuition about communication dynamics before applying levers in the game.
| Kotter Step | Sequencing | Trainer Mechanic |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Create Urgency | Do first | Look for resisters & high-risk influencers, use communication levers, surface the urgency. Use small credibility-building moves to 'wake the system up'. |
| 2. Build a Guiding Coalition | Do second | Analyse → Network (organogram, radial & matrix) to identify allies and influence routes. Form a coalition of early movers. |
| 3. Form Strategic Vision | Do third | Decide → Choose & sequence levers; articulate the "why," not just the "what." Align with vision and risk appetite, align sequencing to people's stages. |
| 4. Enlist a Volunteer Army | Repeat | Critical-mass meter grows as influencers move to Trial/Adoption; supporters become visible on cards after three stages. Use "involving" levers, aim to shift one whole team cluster into trial to create social proof. |
| 5. Enable Action | Repeat | Remove blockers visible in the network: tensions, enemies, high-risk ties — barriers often appear as stalled stage progress (stuck in Interest). Come back to this whenever someone is stuck. |
| 6. Generate Short-Term Wins | Repeat | Pick small, high-certainty levers that create visible progress in a few weeks. Announce success through communication levers to reinforce momentum. Wins should be real and measurable. |
| 7. Sustain Acceleration | Repeat | Alternate messaging, process, and relationship levers; never repeat the same lever too frequently (fatigue penalty). Mid-game (Weeks 35–60) is where projects die. Rotate focus across teams. |
| 8. Anchor Change | Do last | Gradually shift the majority of influencers to Adoption. Adoption of key influencers + debrief embeds new behaviours as the default way of working. |
Do first / second / third Steps 1–3 must happen roughly in order. You cannot build a coalition before people feel the urgency, and you cannot communicate a vision you haven't formed.
Repeat Steps 4–7 are not one-off events. You will cycle through them many times — enlisting people, removing blockers, celebrating wins, and sustaining momentum. The order between them is flexible; use whichever fits the situation.
Do last Step 8 only works when the majority have already moved. Anchoring change too early feels hollow and can trigger cynicism.
Most levers can be used at different stages — but their emotional impact changes dramatically depending on when and how you deploy them. Before choosing a lever, ask yourself:
The same lever, used in a different stage or through a different channel, can be the difference between building trust and destroying it. Effective change leaders don't just pick the right lever — they deliver it in a way that respects the person on the receiving end.
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