Your simulation teaches brilliant strategic thinking about market expansion and acquisitions. There's just one problem: your participants are frontline managers who've never been in a boardroom—and the decisions they're "learning" have nothing to do with the work they actually do. You've just turned training into a disconnection exercise.

In this episode of our series on choosing the best business acumen simulation, we tackle a critical but often overlooked principle: real business drivers. It's not enough for a simulation to model "business"—it needs to model the right business, with decisions that match your participants' actual roles and responsibilities.

Discover why simulations built around high-level strategic moves—entering new markets, launching product lines, making acquisitions—can actually backfire when presented to audiences who don't control those levers. These games inadvertently send a demoralizing message: that participants' real operational work is unimportant to company success.

We explore how the best simulations focus on decisions learners actually control: payment terms, marketing spend, resource allocation, capacity planning, and process improvements. These operational drivers deliver tangible value because they reflect the reality participants face every Monday morning.

Critical Questions Covered:

• Does the simulation offer multiple paths to success, or funnel everyone toward one "right" strategy? • Do the decision levels in the game align with what your learners actually control? • Will participants leave with insights they can immediately apply in their roles?

Learn why learning sticks when it feels real—and why simulations that mirror familiar tradeoffs create both engagement and meaningful retention. When success in the game mirrors success in the real world, participants don't just learn abstract business concepts. They gain confidence to apply those insights starting tomorrow.

Essential listening for L&D professionals who want training that bridges the gap between the classroom and the cubicle.

Read the full blog post.