It's in the Cards

Choose this exercise

Purpose: Observe how unequal influence and shifting resource balances influence coalition bargaining, alliance stability, and profit division.

Use it when: Use during negotiation, partnership strategy, or organizational dynamics sessions to examine alliance building under asymmetric power.

Skip it when: Skip when groups need non-competitive consensus building or when participants are sensitive to exclusion dynamics.

Group arrangement: Tables of exactly 5 participants

Timing: Source specifies 20 to 40 minutes; 25 minutes accommodates two rounds and debrief.

Materials and tools

• One set of 5 standard playing cards (Ace, 2, 3, 4, 5 of any suit; Ace equals 1) per group of 5
• One Coalition Bid Sheet per group of 5
• Pens or pencils
• Countdown timer
• Digital spreadsheet (for remote groups)

Before participants arrive

1. Form tables of 5 participants each.
2. Assign any remaining 1 to 4 participants as official contract recorders and observers at active tables.
3. Place one set of 5 cards (Ace through 5) face down and one Coalition Bid Sheet with a pen at each table.

Say this to open

In this simulation, each of you represents a major corporation. Your card represents your Resource Index, derived from assets, staffing, and past history. An international contract requires a coalition with a combined Resource Index of at least 8 to win. You will have limited time to negotiate who joins the coalition and agree on an exact formula to divide the payout.

How to run it

1. Deal cards and brief project 3 minutes

   Ask one player at each table to shuffle the 5 cards and deal one face down to each person. Participants look at their card and may choose when to reveal it. Announce the parameters: contract profit is $16 million. Coalitions must reach a combined Resource Index of 8 or more to bid. Bids require an exact numerical profit split agreed upon by every member of the coalition. Excluded players receive $0.

2. Negotiate Round 1 5 minutes

   Start the 5 minute countdown timer. Participants negotiate freely within their table. As soon as a coalition forms that hits an index of 8 or more with an agreed profit split, they record their names and dollar amounts on the Coalition Bid Sheet. For example, a player with 5 and a player with 3 combine for 8, agreeing on $10 million and $6 million respectively. At zero, call stop. Check recorded bids.

3. Re-deal and negotiate Round 2 6 minutes

   Explain that economic conditions have shifted. Groups gather all 5 cards, shuffle, and re-deal face down so participants receive new resource levels. Announce the new project: target profit rises to $20 million, the required index remains at least 8, and negotiation time drops to 4 minutes. Start the 4 minute timer. Coalitions must agree and log their final splits before time expires.

4. Group review and debrief 11 minutes

   Stop all negotiations. Ask tables to review their final sheets. Conduct a debrief addressing 2 or 3 questions to the full room. Ask for 3 to 4 observations from different tables focusing on influence, trust, and how earlier agreements shaped second round behavior.

Debrief questions

• How did holding a low card (1 or 2) influence your bargaining power compared to holding a 4 or 5?
• What negotiation arguments successfully persuaded a partner to accept less than an equal split?
• Did alliances or broken agreements in Round 1 affect who trusted each other in Round 2?

Finished output: Completed Coalition Bid Sheets showing coalition rosters, total resource values, and signed profit allocations for two rounds.

Remote

Run in breakout rooms of 5. The host privately messages each participant their Resource Index (Ace/1, 2, 3, 4, or 5). Groups use a shared digital spreadsheet with the Coalition Bid Sheet layout to record member names, total index, and profit shares within the timer limits.

Hybrid

Place in-person participants at physical tables of 5 and assign remote participants to dedicated 5-person breakout rooms. Provide remote rooms with the digital spreadsheet while physical rooms use paper copies. Do not mix in-person and remote participants in the same negotiating group.

Access and participation choices

• Any participant may opt out of direct bargaining to serve as the table recorder and impartial observer.
• Calculators or mobile phones are permitted for verifying arithmetic during profit divisions.

If the session gets stuck

A group forms a 5 person coalition dividing the profit equally, preventing competitive bargaining.

Remind participants that smaller coalitions allow individual members to secure significantly larger payouts if they can reach the threshold of 8 with fewer partners.

Participant count is not an exact multiple of 5.

Assign 1 to 4 extra participants as official contract recorders who verify the index sum and record the profit split on the sheet.

Terms used here

• Resource Index: The numeric weight of a player's corporate assets, represented by the card value (Ace counts as 1).
• Coalition: A temporary alliance of players whose combined card values meet or exceed the target index.