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: 10413c90fd91d2072dfa2a04f3760d6aa4a945ed8f22a83f481b8ac4ae9307fc

# Free Money

Participants cast an anonymous vote choosing either ten dollars or ten cents under strict collective limits. When revealed poll tallies show whether individual self-interest exceeded the cap, the group debriefs the social dilemma.

**Time:** 15 minutes. Source specifies 15 minutes total: 7 minutes for setup and voting, 8 minutes for debrief.
**People:** 10 to 30. Individual secret voting followed by whole-room discussion

## Choose this exercise

**Purpose:** Demonstrate how individual self-interest and uncoordinated choices impact collective outcomes in a social dilemma.
**Use it when:** Use during sessions on negotiation, cooperation, or team dynamics to spark immediate discussion on personal gain versus group benefit.
**Skip it when:** Skip when organizational policies forbid cash simulations or when working with teams experiencing active interpersonal conflict where perceived greed will worsen distrust.

## Materials and tools

- One real $10 cash bill (or digital equivalent)
- Polling software or secret ballot slips (one slip per participant)
- Collection box or basket (for in-person ballot collection)
- Digital timer or stopwatch
- Coin or cup for random selection if a draw is needed
- Presentation slide or poster displaying the payout rules

## Before participants arrive

1. Prepare a two-option anonymous poll with choices '$10' and '10 cents'.
2. Display the rule poster or slide where all participants can read it clearly.
3. Ensure a physical $10 bill is visible or ready to hand over.

## Say this to open

One person today has a chance to win a real ten-dollar bill. In a moment, each of you will cast a secret vote for either ten dollars or ten cents. You have ninety-nine seconds to submit your choice. Listen closely to the conditions that govern whether anyone gets paid.

## How to run it

### 1. Announce rules and payout conditions (3 minutes)

Read the exact conditions: 1. At least 10 people must cast a vote. 2. If 4 or more people select $10, nobody receives any money. 3. If 1, 2, or 3 people choose $10, exactly one of those participants is chosen at random to win $10. 4. If 0 people choose $10, nobody receives any money. Answer clarifying questions regarding mechanics only.

### 2. Conduct secret vote (2 minutes)

Open the poll or distribute ballot slips. Start a 99-second countdown. Participants vote independently without speaking or conferring. Keep the live tally hidden. Close submissions promptly when the timer reaches 99 seconds.

### 3. Reveal results and resolve prize (2 minutes)

Display the raw vote totals on screen or whiteboard without editorial comment. If 4 or more voted for $10, state calmly that the threshold was breached and no money is awarded. If 1 to 3 participants chose $10, ask those individuals to identify themselves. If 1 person chose $10, hand them the bill. If 2 or 3 chose $10, flip a coin for 2 or draw numbered slips from a cup to select one winner, then hand over the $10 bill.

### 4. Debrief the dilemma (8 minutes)

Lead the room through debrief questions. Allow participants to reflect on motives, feelings about the choices, and workplace equivalents. Take 3 to 4 contributions across the room.


## Debrief questions

- If you chose 10 cents, how do you feel about your choice, and how do you feel about those who chose $10?
- If you chose $10, what was your rationale, and how do you view the final outcome?
- What workplace situations resemble this setup, where an individual gain risks destroying the reward for everyone?

**Finished output:** A revealed aggregate poll tally and an analyzed collective decision pattern connecting individual choices to team outcomes.

## Remote

Run the poll using platform polling or a shared anonymous form with results hidden. Keep the poll open for 99 seconds. If 1 to 3 participants chose $10, those participants type their names in chat. If more than 1 person qualified, use a digital random picker or coin flip on camera to select the winner and transfer the $10 electronically.

## Hybrid

In-person participants submit anonymous slips into a physical box while remote participants vote on an anonymous digital poll. One co-facilitator sums the counts and reveals the combined numbers at once. If 1 to 3 people chose $10, in-person and remote qualifiers announce themselves, their names are entered into an online random picker shared on screen, and the winner is drawn.

## Access and participation choices

- Provide both visual slides and read-aloud spoken instructions for numerical rules.
- Voting is optional; participants may abstain without penalty.
- Participants are never required to publicly disclose their vote during the debrief.

## If the session gets stuck

**Participants accuse those who picked $10 of being selfish or untrustworthy.**

Intervene immediately and redirect discussion to structural game incentives rather than personal character. Note that the game design intentionally creates tension between individual risk and collective restraint.

**Fewer than 10 participants cast a ballot.**

Remind the room of the minimum participation rule. Announce that because fewer than 10 votes were submitted, the threshold was not met and no prize can be awarded, then transition straight to debriefing why participation stalled.


## Terms used here

- Social dilemma: A situation where individual rational choices produce a suboptimal collective outcome.

## Participant material: Free Money Rule Card

Rules for Free Money:

1. You have 99 seconds to cast an anonymous vote for either '$10' or '10 cents'.
2. At least 10 participants must cast a ballot for any payout to occur.
3. If 4 or more participants choose '$10', no money is awarded to anyone.
4. If 1, 2, or 3 participants choose '$10', exactly one of those participants is chosen at random to win $10.
5. If 0 participants choose '$10', no money is awarded.

## Sources and adaptation

Observed in Play for Performance newsletter (December 2003), edited by Sivasailam 'Thiagi' Thiagarajan, where the activity is described under the title 'Free Money'.

Retained the exact core mechanic, timing (15 minutes total, 7 minutes game, 8 minutes debrief), participant threshold rules, and debrief prompts published by Sivasailam Thiagarajan in Play for Performance (December 2003). Added explicit random selection procedures for in-person and remote formats, unified rule conditions between instructions and rule card, and set group size to 10-30 participants without percentage scaling variants.

[thiagi.net](https://thiagi.net/archive/www/pfp/IE4H/december2003.html)

Current run sheet: https://unitedwetransform.com/exercises/pfp-december-2003/