Works with Claude, ChatGPT, Gemini, or your own local model: paste this prompt and your AI will co-facilitate this exercise with you.

Help me prepare and run the exercise below. First ask for my participant count, time, setting, access needs and intended result. Check these against the stated limits. Use the supplied rules and materials. Explain any proposed changes before using them, and label them as adaptations. Do not invent source claims or require personal disclosure. Give me one step at a time when I say start. I manage the people, physical activity and clock; do not claim to observe the room. Ask me what happened before choosing a next step.

Reference revision: 6209b297b010de64b2a3f9e9f460bcb132b4641e85486c8e9e9c7c5e2008ef52

# Food Chain

Participants form three tiers in a live trading chain: initial suppliers, processors, and end customers. Suppliers sign and sell card halves to processors, who countersign and resell them to buyers with strict transaction limits.

**Time:** 20 minutes. Source specifies 15 to 30 minutes with a strict 5-minute live trading round; UWT standardizes on a 20-minute schedule.
**People:** 6 to 24. Three roughly equal subgroups arranged spatially into Suppliers (Group 1), Processors (Group 2), and Buyers (Group 3). Extra participants join Group 2 to smooth the flow.

## Choose this exercise

**Purpose:** Demonstrate the dependencies, bottlenecks, and communication barriers across a multi-tier customer-supplier chain.
**Use it when:** Use when examining operational handoffs, supplier relationships, or friction points between internal teams and external customers.
**Skip it when:** Skip when the group cannot move around comfortably or when participants need to analyze actual technical workflows rather than a fast-paced market simulation.

## Materials and tools

- Index cards cut in half (approximately 50 halves per Group 1 participant)
- Play money in $1 bills (prepare $5 per Group 2 participant and $200 per Group 3 participant)
- Pens or markers (one per participant in Group 1 and Group 2)
- Printed Instruction Sheets (one per person corresponding to their group assignment)
- Chime, whistle, or acoustic timer for the facilitator

## Before participants arrive

1. Cut index cards in half and bundle them into stacks of 50.
2. Count play money into individual packets ($5 for each Group 2 participant; $200 for each Group 3 participant).
3. Arrange the room into three distinct zones: place Group 1 at one end, Group 3 at the opposite end, and Group 2 in the middle.
4. Print instruction sheets for Groups 1, 2, and 3.

## Say this to open

Welcome. In this simulation, we will experience how work and value move across an end-to-end delivery pipeline. You are divided into three groups across the room: Group 1 on the left, Group 2 in the middle, and Group 3 on the right. Members of Group 1 and Group 3 cannot speak or trade directly with each other. Everything must pass through Group 2. Read your instruction sheet carefully, protect your strategy, and prepare to begin when the signal sounds.

## How to run it

### 1. Divide into groups and distribute roles (4 minutes)

Divide participants into three roughly equal groups. Direct Group 1 to one side of the room, Group 2 to the center, and Group 3 to the opposite side. Hand each Group 1 member 50 card halves, a pen, and the Group 1 instruction sheet. Hand each Group 2 member $5, a pen, and the Group 2 instruction sheet. Hand each Group 3 member $200 and the Group 3 instruction sheet. Give everyone two minutes to read their private rules. Visit each group to clarify questions quietly.

### 2. Run trading round (5 minutes)

Sound the whistle to begin trading. Group 1 participants sign cards and sell up to 5 at a time to Group 2 for $1 each, rotating buyers. Group 2 participants sign underneath and sell one card at a time to Group 3 for $2 each, rotating buyers. Group 3 buys valid double-signed cards, collecting at most two cards with the exact same pair of signatures. Ensure Group 1 and Group 3 never trade directly. Stop the game immediately when the 5-minute timer sounds.

### 3. Tally results and declare winners (3 minutes)

Have participants halt all transactions on the signal. Direct Group 1 and Group 2 members to count their remaining money. Direct Group 3 members to count their validly acquired cards. Identify the person with the highest total in each group and acknowledge their score.

### 4. Debrief the supply chain dynamics (8 minutes)

Bring the entire room together into a circle or plenary seating. Facilitate a structured review using the debrief questions. Collect 2 to 3 observations per question to examine bottlenecks, cash flow pressures, and the experience of serving intermediate versus end users.


## Debrief questions

- What bottlenecks or frustrations occurred during the handoffs between groups?
- How did the rule restricting Group 1 and Group 3 from direct contact affect product flow and pricing?
- Where do you observe similar middle-tier pressure or disconnects in our actual organization?

**Finished output:** A shared list of operational bottlenecks and handoff breakdowns observed during the simulation, mapped to real workplace workflows.

## Remote

This live physical simulation relies on spatial separation and rapid physical paper-and-cash trading. Running it online requires a completely different digital inventory system. To explore the same concept remotely, run a structured handoff simulation using a shared spreadsheet with three sequential tabs (Supplier, Processor, Customer) where participants pass row tokens using private chat approvals.

## Hybrid

Hybrid delivery is not recommended because physical trading and spatial buffering between tables are core to the activity. If necessary, place all in-person members into Group 2 (processing) while remote participants operate as Group 1 and Group 3 using digital breakout rooms and shared visual boards.

## Access and participation choices

- Participants with limited physical mobility can remain stationary at their table while other traders approach them.
- Any participant may opt out of active trading and serve as an auditor or timekeeper without disclosure.

## If the session gets stuck

**Group 2 runs out of starting cash before they can make enough sales to Group 3.**

Remind Group 2 that they can negotiate prices with Group 1, buy single cards, or complete an immediate sale to Group 3 to replenish their working capital.

**Members of Group 1 try to approach Group 3 directly across the room.**

Enforce the spatial rule immediately: direct Group 1 back to their zone and remind them that all goods must route through Group 2.


## Terms used here

- Two different signatures: A valid card must show the signature of the original Group 1 producer and the signature of the Group 2 intermediary below it.

## Participant material: Instruction Sheet for Group 1 Members

All members of your group have the same instructions. The two other groups have different instructions.
Your goal is to make more money than any other member of your group.
You have a large supply of index-card halves. Sign your name on each card half.
You can sell the signed cards to any member of Group 2. You cannot sell the cards to anyone else. The suggested retail price is $1 per card.
You may sell up to five cards to a single person at any given time. You may not sell more cards to the same person until you have sold some cards to someone else.
The game will end after 5 minutes. At that time, if you have the most money in Group 1, you win the game.

## Participant material: Instruction Sheet for Group 2 Members

All members of your group have the same instructions. The two other groups have different instructions.
Your goal is to make more money than any other member of your group.
You begin the activity with $5.
Your job is to buy cards from the members of Group 1, sign your name under the signature on each card, and sell the cards to the members of Group 3.
The suggested purchase price of the cards from Group 1 is $1 each. The suggested selling price to Group 3 is $2 each.
You may sell only one card at a time to any Group 3 member. You may not sell another card to the same person until you have sold a card to someone else.
The game will end after 5 minutes. At that time, if you have the most money in Group 2, you win the game.

## Participant material: Instruction Sheet for Group 3 Members

All members of your group have the same instructions. The two other groups have different instructions.
Your goal is to collect more cards than any other member of your group.
You begin the activity with $200. You use this money to buy cards from the members of Group 2.
Each card costs $2. Make sure that the card has two different signatures, one below the other.
You may not collect more than two cards that have the same two signatures.
The game will end after 5 minutes. At that time, if you have the most cards in Group 3, you win the game.

## Sources and adaptation

Observed in materials published by The Thiagi Group (copyright 1996, 1999 Sivasailam Thiagarajan).

Retained the exact game mechanics, role instructions, resource allocations ($50 cards, $5 starting cash, $200 buying pool), and 5-minute trade duration from the source document. Standardized total workshop duration to 20 minutes with structured step timings, explicit group-splitting rules, accessibility adaptations, and specific debrief prompts.

[thiagi.net](https://thiagi.net/archive/www/game-foodchain.html)

Current run sheet: https://unitedwetransform.com/exercises/food-chain/