Playing to Win

Last week at university we did the Markstrat Online simulation. It is a game in which you have to manage a company, competing with other students. While usually it is played from home, at Erasmus we had designated class time to play it. This made a very social experience and so I really enjoyed it.

Working in a good team is fun

It was so much fun to do this exercise. I liked the competitive thrill of it, as with each round we were eagerly waiting to find out the results, comparing them with others soon afterwards, and jumping straight to work to come out on top next time. I must say the whole experience wouldn’t be the same had it not been for the awesome group members I was lucky to work with. I thoroughly enjoyed interacting with them, and I know that one day they are really going to be some of the best in our field.

Best teammates ever: Jorien, Alex and Erik.

Three takeaway points

Three things I learnt from the simulation:

1. Teamwork, teamwork, teamwork. This is the most important element of success. If you cannot work together, you will work against one another.
2. Clarity, consistency and concentration. In business (and in life as well, actually) you have to have a clear vision, it will greatly help you with decision making, steering you in the right direction. Once you identified what is it that you want to do, stay with it, this is the only way to master it. Then, do not branch out too quickly, rather concentrate - remember that your resources are limited, so set off to achieve the second objective only when you do not have to significantly sacrifice the first one.
3. Watch out for competition. Never neglect the competition, keep your moves secret (be humble), outmaneuver them before they outmaneuver you, and mercilessly exploit their every mistakes and weaknesses.

So how did we do eventually? We won!!!! And what a joy it was to celebrate our first place in the industry with my teammates! It was a truly awesome experience!!!