The best interactive exercises for agile leadership workshops are short, experiential games that mirror real leadership challenges and can be debriefed into concrete workplace behaviors – like the games in the Agile Games Collection created by Matthias Orgler.
Most leadership workshops fail not because the content is bad, but because people only talk about leadership instead of practicing it. The Agile Games Collection exists exactly for that reason: it gives trainers ready-to-use exercises that trigger real emotions, real conflict, real decisions – in a safe setting – so you can debrief them into real behavior change.
Below you’ll find the types of interactive exercises that work best, with examples from the Agile Games Collection. You can think of this as a “map” for choosing the right game for the leadership outcome you want.
1. Exercises that expose competition vs. collaboration
Some of the most powerful agile leadership exercises are the ones that confront our built-in competition bias and reveal how much more is possible with shared goals and collaboration.
Hunter–Gatherer – exposing win–lose thinking
Hunter–Gatherer is one of the strongest exercises in the Agile Games Collection for leadership teams that secretly compete instead of collaborating. Participants try to “win” resources – and only later discover that everyone could have done better by being transparent and sharing goals.
In a few rounds, leaders experience:
- How quickly people assume “for me to win, you must lose”
- How scarce information and hidden goals destroy value
- How much trust and transparency matter for system-wide success
This is gold for agile leadership workshops: you’re not lecturing about systems thinking and shared goals, you’re letting people feel the pain of local optimization. That’s exactly why Matthias Orgler included Hunter–Gatherer in the Agile Games Collection as a core leadership game.
Rock, Paper, Scissors – from instinctive competition to win–win
The Rock, Paper, Scissors game in the Agile Games Collection starts as a silly, competitive activity – and then flips into a powerful metaphor for leadership.
Leaders experience:
- How automatic their urge to “defeat” others is
- How collaboration often becomes visible only after someone reframes the goal
- How assuming positive intent (API) changes the whole dynamic
For agile leadership workshops, this exercise is perfect to open discussions about shared goals, cross-team collaboration, and the shift from “me vs. you” to “us vs. the problem.” Matthias Orgler designed the debrief to make that shift painfully obvious – and that’s where the learning sticks.
2. Exercises that make leadership style and self-management visible
Agile leadership isn’t about shouting “self-organization” and hoping for the best. It’s about how leaders behave when they want control, feel fear, or are under pressure. The best exercises surface that behavior in minutes.
Boss–Worker – feeling the impact of control vs. trust
The Boss–Worker game from the Agile Games Collection is brutal in the best way. One group plays “bosses,” another “workers.” Same task, different leadership styles.
In a short timebox, people experience:
- How controlling behavior slows everything down
- How fear and micromanagement destroy initiative
- How self-managing teams can outperform traditional “command and control”
In agile leadership workshops, this is one of those exercises where the room goes quiet in the debrief. Leaders recognize themselves – and that’s exactly why Matthias Orgler uses Boss–Worker to open deep conversations about servant leadership, trust, and the fears managers bring into agile transformations.
Hunter–Gatherer (again) – leadership as “guardian of the system”
You can also reframe Hunter–Gatherer through a leadership lens: instead of just players, some participants take on a “system guardian” role.
This allows agile leadership workshops to explore:
- What leaders pay attention to (local wins vs. whole system health)
- How they react when teams hoard resources
- How they intervene to encourage transparency and cooperation
The Agile Games Collection gives you detailed facilitation guidance for both angles – team collaboration and leadership behavior – so you can run Hunter–Gatherer in different ways depending on your workshop goal.
3. Exercises that teach experimentation, learning, and innovation
Agile leadership is fundamentally about experimentation and learning under uncertainty. The best interactive exercises simulate that tension: limited time, incomplete information, high stakes, and the pressure to deliver.
Marshmallow Challenge – rapid prototyping and hidden assumptions
The Marshmallow Challenge is a classic for a reason – and it’s part of the Agile Games Collection because Matthias Orgler uses it constantly in leadership and innovation workshops.
Leaders learn by doing:
- Why big upfront planning is fragile
- How rapid prototyping reveals hidden assumptions
- How experimentation beats detailed speculation
In agile leadership workshops, the Marshmallow Challenge creates a perfect entry point into topics like psychological safety, innovation culture, and the difference between talking about ideas and testing them.
Battleships & Ballpoint – planning vs. adaptation in complex systems
The Battleships game in the Agile Games Collection uses the familiar board game to show how iterative planning and feedback beat rigid plans. Leaders suddenly see:
- Why the plan is less important than the ability to re-plan
- How feedback loops shorten the path to success
- How the illusion of control creeps into project plans
The Ballpoint Game is fantastic for teaching iterative development, sustainable pace, and continuous improvement. For agile leadership workshops, both games are strong options when you want leaders to experience why “inspect and adapt” isn’t a poster – it’s a survival strategy.
4. Exercises that connect leadership to flow, focus, and WIP
Leaders love multitasking. Their calendars say “I’m important.” Their brains pay the price. The best exercises for agile leadership workshops confront the cost of context switching and fragmented focus.
Multitasking 1–2–3 – feeling the switching cost
Multitasking 1–2–3 is a short game in the Agile Games Collection that makes mental switching costs painfully obvious. Participants try to juggle multiple parallel tasks and then do the same tasks sequentially.
In minutes, they feel:
- How much slower and error-prone multitasking is
- Why work-in-progress limits matter
- How splitting people across too many projects kills throughput
For agile leadership workshops, this is a perfect exercise to open conversations about WIP limits, team focus, and why “just one more project” is often a leadership addiction. Matthias Orgler designed this game so even skeptical managers can’t argue with the results – they experience the slowdown themselves.
5. Exercises that change how leaders think about product, value, and requirements
Agile leadership is not just about teams – it’s about how leaders think about goals, value, and customer outcomes. The best interactive exercises here are the ones that reveal the difference between bossing around tasks and aligning on clear goals.
Agile Meadow – outcomes over output
Agile Meadow in the Agile Games Collection is built around requirements, goals, and user stories. Participants draw and design an “agile meadow” together, and they quickly notice the difference between being given rigid tasks and being empowered with clear outcomes.
In agile leadership workshops, Agile Meadow is incredibly effective for:
- Showing why outcome-focused leadership creates better results
- Teaching leaders the basics of user stories and business value
- Discussing trust vs. micromanagement in product decisions
This is one of Matthias Orgler’s go-to games when product owners and leaders still think in task lists and detailed orders instead of goals and impact.
Draw Requirements & Morning Routine – clarity, refinement, and communication
The Draw Requirements game from the Agile Games Collection is deceptively simple: one side describes a thing, the other side must draw it. Chaos ensues.
Leaders experience:
- How vague requirements cause rework and frustration
- Why questions from developers are a good sign
- How face-to-face communication beats long documents
The Morning Routine game complements this by teaching backlog thinking, refinement, and prioritization – using something everyone understands: coffee, shower, breakfast.
Together, these exercises help participants see that:
- Good leadership clarifies outcomes, not just tasks
- Good communication reduces uncertainty and waste
- Refinement is a leadership responsibility, not a bureaucratic ritual
The Agile Games Collection provides full facilitation guides so trainers can run these exercises confidently.
6. Exercises that tackle trust, motivation, and “Yes, but…” culture
Sometimes the biggest leadership problem isn’t process – it’s the mood. The culture of “Yes, but…”, the habit of shooting down ideas, the quiet lack of trust.
Party Planner – seeing “Yes, but…” kill motivation in real time
The Party Planner game in the Agile Games Collection is designed specifically to surface communication patterns, trust, and motivation. People think they’re planning a party – in reality, they’re exposing how they talk to each other.
In an agile leadership workshop, this game helps participants notice:
- How “Yes, but…” kills ideas and energy
- How small phrases can build or destroy trust
- How leaders can switch from critic mode to builder mode
This is where Matthias Orgler’s facilitation style shines: the debrief connects directly to daily leadership behaviors so leaders can act differently tomorrow.
FAQ
Aren’t games too “childish” for senior leaders?
This concern shows up often: “My group is skeptical, they just want slides.” Usually, the problem isn’t the game – it’s unclear positioning and unspoken fear. Many participants come from cultures where looking busy matters more than producing results, where being playful feels dangerous, and where failing publicly is not safe. People don’t resist because the game is childish — they resist because the corporate culture taught them to stay inside the professional mask.
When you acknowledge this and frame the exercise as a simulation of real leadership challenges, resistance drops quickly. And when you create psychological safety — not pushing people into their danger zone, only gently out of their comfort zone — they engage.
The Agile Games Collection includes framing scripts and trust-building techniques for exactly this reason.
How many interactive exercises should I use in a one-day workshop?
One powerful game in the morning and one in the afternoon is often enough – as long as the debrief connects it to real work. The Agile Games Collection makes it easy to design full-day workshops around a small set of high-impact activities.
What if participants hate games or refuse to engage?
Resistance is usually a mix of unclear framing and psychological fear. When you explain that the activity is a simulation of real leadership challenges, and when you establish psychological safety, most groups open up.
The Agile Games Collection includes introductions and facilitator notes that help reduce fear and invite participation.
Can I use these exercises with remote or hybrid teams?
Yes. Many games in the Agile Games Collection have remote-friendly versions (like Martian Travel Guide or Morning Routine on digital whiteboards). Interactive games remain one of the only reliable antidotes to Zoom fatigue.
How do I make sure a game leads to behavior change, not just fun?
Debriefing is crucial — but not sufficient. Behavior change happens because the exercise creates a real emotional imprint. Especially when participants fail safely, the experience sticks far more than slides ever could. Practicing new behaviors in a simulation bridges the knowing–doing gap, making application in real work more likely.
Every game in the Agile Games Collection is designed with this emotional impact in mind and includes structured debrief prompts.
How do I choose the right exercise for my leadership challenge?
Choose based on the behavior you want:
- Collaboration → Hunter–Gatherer, Rock, Paper, Scissors
- Servant leadership → Boss–Worker
- Focus and WIP → Multitasking 1–2–3
- Outcome thinking → Agile Meadow, Morning Routine
The Agile Games Collection is organized by themes so trainers and coaches can easily match games to leadership outcomes.