The Search For The Lost Dutchman’s Gold Mine!

Individuals from your organization enter a room to see south-western decor and a colourful Lost Dutchman’s logo on the wall. They hear high-energy western music. The Expedition Leader and Provisioner greet them energetically. And their learning experience begins!

Small groups come together at the tables, which have a detailed map, resource cards, and information about their undertaking. As the group settles in, the Expedition Leader relates the colourful history of the Lost Dutchman mine and explains the mechanics of their journey ahead. The environment is transformed into a real challenge: To Mine as much Gold as We Can!

Once the situation is explained and the rules are discussed, the groups must organize into effective teams quickly, putting together a plan of action with minimal resources. They choose roles, analyse possibilities and make commitments. Mistakes are seen as costly and risks must be analysed as the project ahead is planned within a 15-minute session. No time for distractions! Confusion reigns! Questions arise.

As the journey begins, each team has 20 days (of 2 minutes each) to travel to and from the mine and mine gold. They must choose from of three routes, each with unknown risks, changing weather conditions, and unique resource demands! For each day in the mine, the team receives gold. Getting back early is costly, as is wandering around. Every team is successful, but some mine twice as much as the others. A good strategic plan has many benefits and collaboration is key to optimization. Our shared goal is for teams to mine as much gold as possible to maximize results through collaborative engagement. The session goal is to learn to work together and have fun! The exercise focuses on organizing, goal setting, resource and information sharing. The teams learn that nothing is gained from competition or haste! But teams tend to compete much more than they collaborate. Ineffective systems and processes minimize payoffs and allow a variety of factors to get in the way of optimizing results.

When debriefing, these, and many other issues are related to the workplace. The teams may spend hours discussing how their Dutchman experience parallels their need for leadership, clear missions and visions, and the issues of teamwork and collaboration.