BUSINESS

Save the City (Process Comparison)

Three-round creativity exercise designed to isolate the effect of group collaboration and structured process on idea generation and evaluation.

SIMULATION OVERVIEW

Sector Alpha is a district of approximately 2 million people fully encircled by a hostile power, Sector Omega. Sector Omega has severed every supply route — land, sea, and air. Sector Alpha has 30 days of supplies on hand. You serve on the governing council as one of its advisors. The council needs ideas — many ideas, of every kind — for how to keep the city alive. The simulation runs in three rounds, each designed to isolate a different question about how you and your team generate and evaluate ideas: ROUND 1 — INDIVIDUAL idea generation. You work alone. Generate as many ideas as possible, of every kind, across every category you can reach. At the end of Round 1, identify the single idea you currently think is best and why. ROUND 2 — GROUP BRAINSTORM. Your team pools ideas and builds a combined list. No framework is imposed — the team works by open discussion. At the end of Round 2, the team selects its top five options and identifies the one it thinks is best. ROUND 3 — SCAMPER REFINEMENT. A structured brainstorming reference arrives. The team applies the SCAMPER framework to the Round 2 option pool to mutate, combine, and refine. At the end of Round 3, the team produces its refined top five and names its best idea. The simulation is designed to surface three observable effects: the value of collaboration (does the group produce more than any individual?), the value of structured process (does SCAMPER produce better ideas than open discussion?), and the accuracy of evaluation judgment (does the team pick better ideas as the exercise progresses?).

Structured BrainstormingSynthesis

SIM PARAMETERS

TRACK

Business

ROUNDS

DURATION

TEAM MODEL

All teams, same materials

POSTURE

CRISIS

AUDIENCE

MBA students; innovation and creativity courses; any program teaching structured brainstorming, group process design, or the measurement of collaboration value

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

Measure the effect of group collaboration on idea generation quality relative to individual ideation

Measure the effect of the SCAMPER framework on refinement quality relative to unstructured group brainstorming

Apply SCAMPER as a mutation tool, not a labeling exercise — moves must be tied to specific bottlenecks

Recognize when the transition from individual to group work creates value vs. destroys value

Track and improve evaluation judgment across rounds — identify whether process improved the quality of the best-idea selection

Develop honest process self-awareness: name what structured methods added AND what they cost

HOW IT RUNS

Briefing

Participants receive a scenario overview and their team assignment. Facilitator sets context and opens the document room.

Document Review

Teams examine scenario documents in the shared document room. Each round releases new intelligence as the situation develops.

Analysis & Submission

Teams complete a structured analytic worksheet applying Structured Brainstorming and Synthesis, then submit their assessment.

Stakeholder Response

An AI-driven decision-maker responds to each team's assessment, reflecting how a real principal would react to the analysis provided.

Debrief

Teams compare their analysis against an expert benchmark. AI coaching surfaces analytical gaps, cognitive biases, and key insights.

WHO IT IS FOR

MBA & Business Programs

Builds competitive intelligence, market analysis, and strategic decision-making skills through scenario-based team exercises.

Corporate Training

Develops analytical reasoning and collaborative intelligence skills in business strategy, risk, or competitive intelligence teams.

Executive Education

Challenges senior leaders to apply structured analysis to high-stakes business decisions under time pressure.

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