Overview
The xCHANGE simulation is a highly innovative software tool that is used as part of an organised workshop, either in a classroom or in remote format, to deliver an intense experience that helps participants with a wide variety of experience levels to develop skills for dealing with challenges such as leading change & transformation, and making innovation happen.
xChange addresses the following 'specific' leadership challenges
xChange addresses the following 'generic' leadership challenges
Learning outcomes
Participants develop a number of skills, including how to:
- work as an effective change team
- use formal and informal networks
- develop effective influencing strategies
- navigate organisational culture & politics
- maximise stakeholder support for an innovation
- make organisational change happen
Who is this for?
xChange is used by leaders working in change or innovation contexts, including:
- change managers & teams
- innovation leaders & teams
- general managers
- project leaders & teams
as well as Masters/MBAs/EMBAs, and Executives on business school programs
Screenshots
Demo video
Clients who use xChange include:
“I have used xChange in both executive and MBA classrooms and always get rave reviews. Importantly, the simulation pushes people to think about change strategies while helping participants to experience the challenges and messiness of organizational change in practice.”
Mark Mortensen, Professor, INSEAD
Frequently Asked Questions
How long does it take to run a xCHANGE simulation workshop?
A xCHANGE simulation workshop is typically run over a half day.
What is the role, mission and success measures in the xCHANGE simulation?
You play the role of an innovation team leader, who works for a medical equipment manufacturer. Your team has been asked to convince top management to approve the launch of an innovative medical device. Success is measured by the number of top managers who give your proposal the green light.
What are the limits on numbers of participants in a xCHANGE simulation workshop?
We recommend that participants be organised in teams of 3 to 5 people, with a minimum of 3 teams and a maximum of 40 teams.
xCHANGE simulation: case studies
A few examples of how xCHANGE is used, all over the world (both in classroom and in remote workshop formats), by a variety of clients, in number of different contexts and for a wide range of participant experience levels and backgrounds.
One of Europe’s leading business schools uses the French version of xCHANGE in a remote format executive education program for bankers from West Africa. The objective is to develop participants’ skills in managing change and innovation, and specifically how to convince their colleagues and managers to approve the launch of innovative financial service offerings in the challenging but promising markets of Africa.
One of the USA’s top tier business schools uses xCHANGE in its MBA program to introduce participants to the challenges and corresponding strategies needed in a context of change and innovation. In a recent class, over 400 students grouped in over 130 teams worked on the simulation simultaneously in a number of campus classrooms, with one professor and several teaching assistants facilitating the exercise through a combination of walking around, video relays and chat exchanges in Zoom.
xCHANGE is used with the UK based project management regulatory support team within a global pharma company. With some recent and major changes in the organisation, and an increasingly complex internal stakeholder landscape, the team recognised the need to develop their broad stakeholder and change management skills and so a simulation workshop was designed specifically to address this context.
A small group of staff from the US Government participated in a program run in their offices by an American business school; the learning objectives focussed on how to develop and implement successful change leadership strategies. The browser format of the simulation software was a key requirement for an organisation with strict technology security protocols.
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