Method and apparatus for organizational development and education

Abstract

A method for teaching and developing the culture, values, and skills of an organization using an educational game. An organization is divided into associated small teams through a succession of divisions. The small teams play an educational board game emphasizing collaboration, innovation, industry knowledge, and leadership skills. As each small team completes the educational board game, members of the small team assist other associated small teams in completing the educational game. The winners of an educational game are determined by considering both the speed at which associated small teams complete the educational game and the number of points earned by the associated small teams.

What is claimed is:  
     
         1 . A method of playing an educational game, comprising: 
 separating an organization into associated teams, each team including a set of members;    playing by the teams an educational game; and    as each team completes the educational game, releasing the members of the team to assist members of other associated teams in completing the educational game.    
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein separating an organization into associated teams further includes separating the organization into associated aggregate teams.  
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein the aggregate teams include associated teams.  
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 3 , wherein the associated teams include associated mini-teams.  
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein playing the educational game further includes answering by team members categorized questions according to a set of rules specific to a question category.  
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 5  wherein a set of rules associated with a question category includes restricting a team member to answering a question alone.  
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 5 , wherein a set of rules associated with a question category includes restricting a team member to answering a question in collaboration with other team members.  
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 7  wherein all the collaborating team members are rewarded if a question is answered correctly.  
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 5 , wherein a set of rules associated with a question category includes allowing a team member to answer a question in collaboration with other team members.  
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 9 , wherein the team member rewards other team members for collaboration.  
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the released team members assist members of associated teams.  
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising: 
 recording game play statistics for a team as the team completes the educational game; and    determining a recipient of a cash reward for a team's members using the game play statistics.    
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising: 
 recording game play statistics for a team member as the team member completes the educational game; and    determining a recipient of a cash reward for a team member using the game play statistics.    
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein members of the associated teams include members representing a cross-section of organizational levels.  
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein members of the associated teams include members representing a cross section of job functions within the organization.  
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein members of the associated teams include members representing a cross section of institutional knowledge within the organization.  
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein members of the associated teams include members representing a cross section of individual job skills within the organization.  
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising: 
 determination by members of an organization's executive management team of a direction an industry is heading and to what extent the organization is aligned in that direction; and    generating categorized questions to be answered by team members while playing the educational game using the determinations of the members of the executive management team.    
     
     
         19 . A method of playing an educational game, comprising: 
 separating an organization into aggregate teams, the aggregate teams including teams, the teams including mini-teams, each mini-team including a set of members;    playing by the mini-teams an educational game, the educational game including answering by mini-team members categorized questions according to a set of rules specific to a question category;    as the members of a mini-team complete the educational game: 
 releasing the members to assist members of other mini-teams included in the same team in completing the educational game;  
 recording member game play statistics; and  
 recording team game play statistics;  
   determining a recipient of a cash reward for a team member using the member game play statistics; and    determining a recipient of a cash reward for a team's members using the team game play statistics.    
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 19  wherein a set of rules associated with a question category includes restricting a team member to answering a question alone.  
     
     
         21 . The method of  claim 19 , wherein a set of rules associated with a question category includes restricting a team member to answering a question in collaboration with other mini-team members.  
     
     
         22 . The method of  claim 21  wherein all the collaborating mini-team members are rewarded if a question is answered correctly.  
     
     
         23 . The method of  claim 19 , wherein a set of rules associated with a question category includes restricting a team member to answering a question in collaboration with other team members.  
     
     
         24 . The method of  claim 23  wherein all the collaborating team members are rewarded if a question is answered correctly.  
     
     
         25 . The method of  claim 19 , wherein a set of rules associated with a question category includes allowing a team member to answer a question in collaboration with other team members.