Vision & Strategy Game Rankings
Hello, Gamestormers!
Fall weather arrived this week in Brooklyn; leaves are turning and temperatures are dropping. September - the beginning of the end of the year - kicks off strategy planning season in many businesses. And our website traffic reflects it.
There's rarely a time when no one is on the site, but peaks and valleys form the jagged mountain range of the site's recurring metrics.
It’s rare that the pattern changes (when); what does change, however, are the pages you visit. I find it fun and insightful to match the traffic patterns to the work we do, the content we read and conversations we have with you - our community, Expedition and consulting clients. Below we list September 2021’s top games and game categories, based on your website visits.
[An insightful lens on this list might be the similar analysis we did in May 2020, two-and-a-half months after the COVID-induced work-from-home shift began. We noticed popular games reinforced meeting fundamentals and divergent thinking; many of you were looking for new ideas, specifically new market opportunities. Which makes sense given the shock to our system. ]
Where the data prompts curiosity I’ve noted the game’s deviation from its May 2020 ranking.
7Ps ⬇25% since May 2020
Even with the downward trend this is still a Top 10 Game. Part of our Facilitator Toolkit, use the 7Ps framework to plan your meetings. I suspect this game’s COVID renaissance demonstrated our return-to-fundamentals approach when planning online meetings. Have we mastered them? It’s always good to return to the fundamentals!
Category: Games for Vision & Strategy 🔝
This is the top game category, and overall top page on the site: visits up 50% from May 2020. September kicks off corporate strategy planning season, and the page visits may benefit from our evaluation’s timing. It also makes sense that this category wasn’t tops back in May 2020 - strategy often comes after sense-making and hypothesis testing. Maybe you’re finally starting to feel a sense of business continuity? Popular games in this category include:
Cover Story ⬆ nearly 30% from May 2020 - a great way to imagine what could be
Prune the Future ⬆ 90% from May 2020 - a great way to phase in the change
Ethos Logos Pathos⬆100% from May 2020.
Preparing a presentation? Polishing a pitch? Interviewing for a new job? This might be the activity you need to nail it! From the game description:
Aristotle laid the groundwork for persuasive communication in the 4th century. Although the times have changed, effective communication hasn’t. Evaluate a communication, such as a value proposition, by using the three elements of rhetoric.
Low Tech Social Network ⬆200% from May 2020.
In-person meetings are back! I’ve suggested this game twice in as many days to delighted clients planning to gather employees - especially new ones - in person. This is a great ice-breaker and team building exercise and works equally well online. Combine it with Trading Cards to double up the fun and camaraderie building. It’s topps.
How-Now-Wow Matrix ⬆35% from May 2020.
If divergent thinking dominated in May 2020, convergent thinking appears to be making a comeback. Use How-Now-Wow to sort and prioritize your ideas, concepts or product backlog with this template.
What Games are you playing? Could you make a meeting agenda using all of these games? Only these games?
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Happy Gamestorming!
Ps - Playing a single game in a meeting or workshop is a great way to introduce Gamestorming to a team, a colleague or client. When you’re ready to level-up and unleash the full power of visual thinking and collaboration, we can help. Check out our Expeditions