Mental Models Game Videos on YouTube Now

13/10/2016
Written by Ville Keksijä Keränen
Published in English
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I have uploaded yesterday total of 13 videos about the Mental Models Game to our YouTube channel MonkeyTV. In this post I list those videos, practically it has about the same info as in the information boxes next to the films. You can check the full playlist here. Also, in this post you find answers to some questions about how to play the game.

General Info about the Game

Mental Models Game is a card game that improves team performance, well-being and creativity by helping people to talk, understand and work better together.

In this video Ville explains how the game works. On each round, pick a question card, presentation mode card and operative mode card. Then take five minutes for dialogue in the group mode picked, and then two minutes to prepare the presentations.

Here is a video where Ville explains why the game works.

In this video Ville explains the eight different types cards that are included in the mental models game. Any questions, please comment and contact me.

What are mental models?

“Mental models are deeply held internal images of how the world works, images that limit us to familiar ways of thinking and acting. Very often, we are not consciously aware of our mental models or the effects they have on our behavior.”  
- Peter Senge in The Fifth Discipline

In this video Ville Keranen explains what are mental models. More info about the mental models e.g. from the book titled the Fifth Discipline by Peter Senge. If you got any comments or questions, please comment, or get in touch!

How should people be seated?

If there are less than 25 people, and the room permits, I would have people to sit in a circle where everyone can see each other. If the group fits around a table, you can also use a table. If there are more than 25 persons playing, I recommend organising the space into smaller circles of up to 8 or 12 persons, and have them to play the game on their own teams.

How many players can play the game?

Starting with 3 persons up to hundreds. You can also play with just 2 or 3 persons, but preferably I would say at least 4 persons is good to have for enough diversity of ideas.

How long does the game session last?

You can play as long as you want for example a good time is between 1 and 4 hours.

What dialogue rules should we follow?

e.g. these are the basic rules that are in the instruction card:

Dialogue starts when you speak from your heart.
One conversation at a time. Listen with open mind to others and yourself.
Respect the time and the game leader
Think of your results as a prototype – no need to do perfect but something that we can learn from and build upon

Contact Information

Inquiries about the mental models game from Ville Keranen, ville@banana.fi or 358 40 731 2084 or via www.mentalmodelsgame.com

Presentation Mode cards

This video is about the Presentation Mode cards of the Mental Models Game. The game has six different operative modes:

Talk (simply talk)
Riddle (come up with a riddle, or question or alike regarding the mental model)
Build & Prototype (Use stuff you have around you. Action beats talking in this mode.)
Act (conduct, stage and act out a little play about the mental models)
Draw & Doodle (Make sure to have paper and
Wild Card (Pick any of the ones above, or come up with your own way to present the mental models)

Operative Mode Cards

This video is about the Operative Mode cards of the Mental Models Game. The game has four different operative modes:

Single – You first think by yourself, before presenting your mental models to other players. In this mode you may want to decrease the dialogue time from 5 to e.g. 3 minutes.
Couple – You work and talk in couples before presenting your mental models to other players. This mode is a good one for mixing the groups, if you ask people to find someone else than the ones seated next to them.
Small Group – You work in group sized 3–5 persons and then present your mental models to other players.
Big Group – You work in group sized 4–8 persons and then present your mental models to other players. If there are less than 10 people, all can work on this mode together.

Instruction Cards

The Mental Models Game has four instruction cards:

Quote of Peter Senge regarding Mental Models
What are mental models made of?
Simple rules for Dialogue
What to do on each round

Here is a video about the Instruction Cards.

Warm Up Cards

This video is about the Warm Up Cards included in the game. They are simple questions you can practice and start the game with. Use on the first round of the game, with presentation modes and operative modes as in the real game.

Question Cards

This video is about the green Question Cards included in the game. The foundation deck includes over 50 powerful questions on various domains such as leadership, innovation, marketing, personal mastery, design, life etc.

Empty Question Cards

This video is about the empty Question Cards included in the Mental Models Game. Please, I would hugely appropriate if you would share those question with me so I could see what kind of games you have played, and maybe also include some of them in the future versions of the game. Drop me and email, or comment on this video or any other way works, too. Thanks a lot!

Check Out Cards

Maybe the most important cards of the game are the check out cards – see video here. These are the ones you use for debriefing at the very end of the game session. You can choose one as a game host, or then you can randomly pick one as well. This could be the last question of the game, and after it the game is finished. Reserve around 2 minutes per person for a check out. If you are short of time, you can do shorter, or if loads of people are playing, you can do the check out in couples, or small groups.