Hello there! Welcome to the second Business Meerkat update.
Sign up for the Pilot Programme here.
Hopefully, these updates will give some insight into the process I’m going through, give nudges when I need some help and input, and then help build some excitement as I get towards production.
If you don’t want to get them, just let me know, and I’ll take you off the list.
Field notes
I had the opportunity to run a few sessions with people this week using the cards.
I spent much of the week with colleagues up in Manchester, and I ran two quite different sessions there. The first was a test of the Meerkat card lay (eight cards – a focus and a complication, three perspectives and three solutions – it’s the one outlined in the explanation slide deck here).
Interestingly, the management group I ran this with had recently been through a fairly hard time with some people issues. We split into 4 small groups, and undirected, each team could retell the incident and make different observations through the cards they drew.
The second session was a bit impromptu. After the first session, one of my colleagues asked in passing, “Could you use these for an icebreaker?”
Of course, I said “yes”. I hadn’t realised he meant a very specific session at an event a few days later. Anyway, the “Evil Experts” session was born.
I’ve found using games where people imagine dark patterns can be a really good way to get people thinking. What would the world be like if you could be as evil as possible?
The Evil Experts game asked them to use five cards to draw inspiration to create the business alter-ego of our company, Equal Experts. Great fun was had. And it helped, I think, get people to see some of how the cards would prompt conversation.
The final session was a bit of a spur-of-the-moment Zoom call on Friday. Five people joined, and we were able to have a play with the cards and explore one participant’s current situation. Again, it felt like a valuable hour (but I’m obviously biased). I’ll be sending out invitations for a few more of these sessions in the next few days for the next few weeks.
Next pilot prototypes dispatched
After what can only described as a “war of wills that I conclusively lost” with the office printer, I took receipt of the latest professionally printed set of prototype cards on Friday, and after an hour with my slightly shonky paper guillotine over the weekend, the next batch of prototypes got dropped into the postbox this evening. They should be with people on Tuesday (slightly later for those outside the UK).
Feedback, please!
I’m looking for three types of feedback –
- cards that don’t make any sense. Let me know!
- ideas for new cards. I’m already working on adding “The Thief” and “The Gatekeeper” (thank you Jeff!) and “The Parent” and “The Child” (cheers Paula!) to the deck as new characters. Other archetype business characters, or forces, that you think would be useful just let me know!
- other feedback – experiences of using the cards, games you have played, games that you think might work and so on.
That last one is “basically anything else”.
You can provide your wonderful insights and reflections here:
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScxpUW_r4aGD3_7g2C9VbaRJD_c6WjAKF7bOYiwLVatB0HfHg/viewform
Feedback really welcomed because…
Pre-orders go live soon!
This idea has matured really quickly. I’ve got ideas about how it might develop if it strikes a nerve with folk (Artist editions, for example), but I want to go from idea in the late Autumn to production in the Spring because life is too short. As a result, pre-ordering will kick off in the next week or so, with a view to have the cards in production by March.
I really want to get the orders placed and received before the next sh!t show that’s “Post-Brexit customs”, given the cards will be being produced in Italy by lovely specialist printers in Piedmont.
Love to hear what you are making of the cards so far!
That’s it for now. Please get in touch if none of this is making any sense!
Cheers, Matt
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