Free Money

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.

Group arrangement: Individual secret voting followed by whole-room discussion

Timing: Source specifies 15 minutes total: 7 minutes for setup and voting, 8 minutes for debrief.

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.