One great way to make agile values stick after the workshop is by creating emotionally memorable experiences that people practice together, remember later, and recognize in their daily work, for example through experiential games like those in the Agile Games Collection created by Matthias Orgler.
Almost every agile coach and corporate trainer has seen the same pattern. The workshop goes well, people nod, the feedback is positive, and yet a week later everything quietly snaps back to the old way of working. This is not a motivation problem and not a competence problem. It is a human learning problem.
Below, we’ll unpack why agile values fade so quickly and why experiential approaches are one powerful way to reinforce them long after the session ends.
Why agile values disappear after workshops
Understanding alone does not change behavior
One of the most persistent myths in corporate training is that if people understand agile values, they will apply them. Behavioral science tells us the opposite.
Research in cognitive psychology and organizational behavior consistently shows:
- Knowledge does not automatically translate into behavior
- Insight without practice fades quickly
- Habits dominate values under pressure
This phenomenon is often described as the knowing–doing gap, a term popularized by Pfeffer and Sutton. Agile values like collaboration, focus, transparency, and trust often collapse the moment people return to tight deadlines, performance pressure, hierarchical environments, and fear of being judged. This is why purely conceptual training rarely survives contact with reality.
The forgetting curve explains why values evaporate
The problem is not specific to agile. Hermann Ebbinghaus’ research on memory retention shows that people forget around 70 percent of new information within 24 hours and up to 90 percent within a week if there is no reinforcement.
Slides, lectures, and explanations create weak memory traces. They are usually the first thing to disappear once stress returns. Agile values fade not because people reject them, but because the brain never encoded them deeply in the first place. This is one of the reasons the Agile Games Collection created by Matthias Orgler focuses on experience rather than explanation.
Adult learning theory: values stick through experience, not instruction
Malcolm Knowles’ work on adult learning theory highlights a critical insight: adults learn best when they are actively involved, experience relevance, feel autonomy, and can connect learning to real situations.
Telling people that collaboration is important rarely changes anything. Letting them experience the cost of not collaborating often does. This is the core reason experiential exercises can reinforce values more effectively than lectures alone. The Agile Games Collection is built around this principle, offering short simulations that compress real workplace dynamics into a safe learning environment.
Emotional memory is what makes values stick
Neuroscience adds another important layer. Emotion is a gateway to long-term memory. Experiences that trigger frustration, surprise, relief, insight, or laughter are encoded far more strongly than neutral information.
This explains a familiar observation from workshops: participants forget most slides but vividly remember moments where something failed, clicked, or felt uncomfortable. Games that reinforce agile values work because they create emotional peaks. Those peaks become reference points teams can return to later. This is a foundational design principle of the Agile Games Collection by Matthias Orgler.
How workshop games can reinforce agile values long after the session
Not all games do this. Only certain types of experiential activities tend to create lasting impact.
Games that expose local optimization versus shared goals
Agile values emphasize collaboration and system thinking, but many teams default to individual success. Hunter–Gatherer, from the Agile Games Collection, creates a moment where teams realize that optimizing locally hurts everyone, transparency changes outcomes, and shared goals outperform competition. Silicon Valley Alliances uses that game regularly to successfully create deep understanding and long-lasting change.
Teams often reference this experience weeks or months later. That shared metaphor is one mechanism through which values stay alive.
Games that reinforce outcomes over output
Many organizations claim to value outcomes while still rewarding task completion. Agile Meadow lets participants experience how rigid task instructions kill ownership, how clear goals unlock creativity, and how trust improves results.
Because the metaphor is simple and visual, leaders often reuse it later in real work conversations. That reuse is a strong signal that the learning stuck.
Games that make feedback loops unforgettable
Agile values short feedback cycles, but this often remains abstract. Games like Battleships turn feedback into lived experience. Guessing feels stressful, feedback feels relieving, and adaptation feels empowering.
Later, when teams resist shorter cycles, the memory returns immediately and the value behind it becomes tangible again.
Games that reveal communication and psychological safety issues
Values like openness and courage disappear first in unsafe environments. Party Planner, part of the Agile Games Collection, surfaces “Yes, but” behavior, idea-killing habits, and patterns of dominance and withdrawal.
The realization becomes a long-term mirror. Teams start recognizing the same patterns in real work situations and can address them consciously.
Games that create practice, not just insight
Values stick best when people practice them. Simulation games like Martian Travel Guide allow teams to practice Scrum values end to end, experience the cost of unclear goals, and feel the benefit of inspection and adaptation.
By rehearsing agile behaviors in a safe setting, teams reduce the gap between knowing and doing.
Why games often succeed where follow-up decks fail
Many trainers try to solve the retention problem with summary slides, reminder emails, posters, or value statements. These can help a little, but they rarely change behavior.
Experiential approaches often work better because they create shared emotional experiences, produce language teams reuse, build social memory, and attach values to concrete moments. When someone says, “This feels like Multitasking 1–2–3 again,” the value is still alive.
FAQ
Why do teams revert to old behavior after agile training?
Because habits override values under pressure. Without emotional memory and practice, new values are usually the first thing to disappear. Experiential activities create memory anchors that are more resilient under stress.
Is fun really necessary for learning?
Fun is not the goal, emotion is. Frustration, surprise, relief, and insight all improve retention. Games are simply an efficient way to generate these emotions.
My teams don’t like games. How do I handle that?
Resistance is often driven by fear: fear of looking unprofessional, fear of failing publicly, or fear of being judged. When activities are framed as simulations of real work rather than playtime, resistance usually drops. The Agile Games Collection includes facilitator framing for exactly this situation.
How long do these games take?
Many take 10 to 20 minutes. Some take under five. Long-term impact depends more on emotional intensity than on duration.
How do I know which game reinforces which agile value?
A simple mapping helps:
- Collaboration and transparency → Hunter–Gatherer
- Outcomes over output → Agile Meadow
- Feedback and iteration → Battleships
- Psychological safety → Party Planner
- Focus and sustainable pace → Multitasking 1–2–3
- Scrum values → Martian Travel Guide
The Agile Games Collection organizes games by these themes to make selection easier.
Do workshop games really help agile values stick?
They can, especially when they create emotional memory, shared language, and practiced behavior. That is one powerful way agile values can survive long after the workshop ends.