We're moving from an industrial to a knowledge economy, where creativity and innovation will be the keys to value. New rules apply. Yet 200 years of industrial habits are embedded in our workplaces, our schools and our system of government. How must we change our work practices to win in the 21st Century?

Gamestorming is a playbook for people who want to design the future, to change the world, to make, break and innovate. It's a rough-and-ready toolkit for inventors, explorers and change agents who want to use design thinking to navigate successfully in complex and uncertain knowledge and information spaces, to engage others, and to start, grow and sustain movements for change. Gamestorming is full of practical, proven solutions to common workplace challenges.

Learn how to engage people in your project, to get better traction and move more quickly with groups, to make things happen and get better, faster decisions and results.

• Use techniques to engage your team and help members collaborate effectively
• Get "silent resisters" to reveal their concerns so they can be discussed and resolved
• Generate ideas that may otherwise be lost
• Identify the root cause of a problem, and determine points of greatest leverage
• Turn common office supplies into powerful enablers for visual thinking
• Learn the visual alphabet: twelve simple shapes that will enable you to clearly and concisely draw anything you can possibly imagine

Table of Contents

1. What Is a Game?

2. 10 Essentials for Gamestorming

3. Core Gamestorming Skills

4. Core Games

5. Games for Opening

6. Games for Exploring

7. Games for Closing

8. Putting Gamestorming to Work

About the Author

Dave Gray is the Founder and Chairman of XPLANE, the visual thinking company. Founded in 1993, XPLANE has grown to be the world's leading consulting and design firm focused on information-driven communications. Dave's time is spent researching and writing on visual business, as well as speaking, coaching and delivering workshops to educators, corporate clients and the public.

He is also a founding member of VizThink, an international community of Visual Thinkers.

Sunni Brown, M.P.A., is Owner of BrightSpot Info Design, a company specializing in visual thinking to support organizational and group success. Sunni was trained in graphic facilitation at The Grove Consultants International, a San Francisco-based company that pioneered the use of visuals in meetings and group processes. She is currently an Associate of The Grove, a freelance consultant for XPlane - the visual thinking company - and an Associate of Alphachimp Studios. She is also co-Founder of VizThink Austin, currently the largest visual thinking community in the United States. Sunni presents regularly on the topics of graphic facilitation, graphic recording and visual thinking. She is also a contributing researcher for Nancy Duarte's upcoming book on storytelling and presentations. Sunni holds Bachelor's degrees in Journalism and Linguistics and a Master's in Public Affairs from the Lyndon Baines Johnson School of Public Affairs. She lives in Austin, TX.

James Macanufo: As a consultant at XPLANE, James helps large technology and government clients develop their vision, strategy and communication plans. He actively obsessed with understanding what things are, the way they work, and why they matter. He is also an active gamer and occasional inventor of card games.