Building a simulation feels just like playing one

The programmes we were running for a law firm client were working really well… but not well enough for everyone. The property partners wanted something that reflected the specifics of their world and the issues their clients face.

This moment feels like standing at the open doorway of a plane, with a parachute on, waiting to jump out. I’m excited, fairly confident it will work out, but there’s a little bit of jeopardy involved.

With a tailored simulation, I can rely on the experience of having done similar things many, many times before. With a bespoke simulation I can’t. I’m working with a business I don’t fully understand, with imperfect information and having to make trade-offs. And there’s an irony that’s not lost on me - my development process feels very similar to the eventual participant experience.

To develop a bespoke simulation, I need to work with someone who understands the business really well, can articulate it clearly and simply, and is prepared to spend time helping me understand it too. Ultimately, these assumptions form the base on which the participant experience is built. It’s a shared mental model.

The core simulation Bissim has been fine-tuned over thousands of runs. It’s always going to work well. A bespoke simulation has two key uncertainties:

How well does our understanding of the business align with that of the participants.

And will participants see possibilities within the information that we didn’t, and so respond in unexpected ways.

The first ‘real’ run (after a pilot) of a bespoke simulation always feels horrible. I feel like the proverbial swan looking calm on the surface and paddling like mad under the water. I’m often having to ‘fudge’ things in the moment and it feels like the simulation is held together with chewing gum and sticky tape. But a second run is always significantly easier and by a third we’re usually about there.

Again, this is reflecting a participant process in the simulation where at first it can feel difficult and scary and then as we understand what we’re working with it becomes easier and more fun. The development process is one I can never fully enjoy in the moment. It’s too difficult and pressured. But when I look back, it’s the work where I’ve learnt the most and have the greatest satisfaction.