POWER January 2017 - 52

INDUSTRY REVIEW & PREVIEW
Newtonian Shift Game Helps
Power Industry Comprehend
Transition
Courtesy: Advanced Energy Centre
How do you get generating company executives and those who interact with the
power industry to think outside the box when planning for the future? The answer
may involve a board game.
Kathleen Gnocato
H
umans are pre-programmed to prefer
routine, tradition, and regularity, without
questioning whether longevity
equals good. Fear of the unknown, and the
power of habit, contribute to our aversion to
change. This is exacerbated by a lack of visibility
into the future at both the individual
and organizational level. As we read about a
transforming energy sector specifically, forecasts
convey myriad messages, and there is
uncertainty around the concrete impacts that
change will have on existing business models.
As a result, it is difficult to visualize what
a transforming energy landscape means for
power generators, how change will manifest,
and the rate at which change will occur.
Board Game for Real-World Power
Players
The Advanced Energy Centre at Canada's
MaRS Discovery District in Toronto is delivering
a new kind of simulation to energy sector
players, aiming to address these questions
through gamification.
The Newtonian Shift is a full-day, roomsized
board game that provides participants with
an opportunity to experience multiple years of
change in the energy sector first-hand (Figure
1). It highlights factors at play in this transitioning
sector, including the impacts of renewables'
declining costs, government commitments to
carbon reductions and targets, aging infrastructure,
and emerging nontraditional competitors.
52
Energy leaders in Canada, the United
States, Europe, and South America, who represent
a diverse set of generation technologies
and a variety of policy and regulatory
environments, are already engaging in this
experience. The target audience is seniorlevel
executives from a variety of organizations,
including generators, utilities, system
operators, government, regulators, and nonprofits.
Three generating companies and 350
participants have played the game under Advanced
Energy Centre facilitation in 2016
(Figure 2).
Using experiential learning and gamification
techniques, this immersive experience
provides an opportunity for energy sector
players to both physically and mentally remove
themselves from their day-to-day roles
and experience energy transition from a different
perspective. It brings industry reports
and trends to life, tests assumptions, and facilitates
critical thinking about how individuals
and organizations might react to change.
The game approach draws upon findings that
many psychologists and change management
experts have discussed. As Andrea Simon, a
cultural anthropologist and CEO of Simon Associates
Management Consultants wrote in a
2013 Forbes piece, " You have to 'see and feel'
new ways of doing things, not just read about
them. Experiential learning is critical. As you
learn, your brain actually changes, reflecting
new decisions, mind maps, and reality sorting. "
www.powermag.com
The game, which covers multiple years
of energy transition in the fictional country
of Newtonia, feels very realistic. From the
beginning, players are thrown into a complex
environment where they must navigate
multiple challenges, conflicting goals, and
external pressures. These include increasing
energy prices, aging assets, the emergence of
nontraditional energy players, and ambitious
renewable policies and targets.
The simulation's chaotic beginning is designed
to emulate the ongoing need of businesses
to address day-to-day requirements,
fight fires, and focus on near-term goals. Naturally,
each player within the energy system
is focused on the immediate needs required to
run a successful business today. At the end of
the simulation, participants have consistently
noted that a shift from a siloed approach focused
on near-term goals to a collaborative
approach with a long-term vision is required
to be successful (see sidebar). Pursuing partnerships
with other sector players toward
shared goals is critical to maintaining the
core business, whilst pursuing new opportunities
and being adaptable to change.
More specifically, participants from generation
companies have derived the following
insights from their experience with the Newtonian
Shift game.
Developing Stronger Partnerships
with Customers Is Essential to Meeting
Their Changing Needs. It is clear that cusPOWER
| January 2017
http://www.powermag.com
POWER January 2017

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