Playing with Leadership: A Multiple Case Study of Leadership Development Larps

Abstract

Learning and development solutions often contain some form of role-playing activity. Many live-action role-playing (larp) leisure events openly center their themes or story on leadership topics like conflicting visions, cooperation, or strategic decision-making. Despite this, only a few larps to date have dared label themselves as “leadership development” edu-larps. This multiple-case study utilizes a synthesized theoretical framework that combines several typologies of both the leadership development research field and the fields of role-playing game studies, edu-larp, applied drama, and simulation. Four individual leadership development larps were identified, categorized by type, compared, and evaluated. The four cases have some striking similarities, as they all make use of the same learning cycle, have observers, and focus on developing versatility as a worthwhile leadership trait. Furthermore, all four larps have relatively few visible game mechanics, the hierarchical difference between characters is low and urgency or uncertainty is used to enhance learning. The main difference between cases is the setting, where a modern business setting seems to be the default, but more fantastical settings, such as “samurai in feudal Japan” were also used. Character design also differs, from abstract roles to very-detailed personality descriptions. Framing, such as duration, varies from one 2-hour session through five sessions spread over weeks to a continuous 36-hour session. These and other identified differences and similarities highlight patterns to build upon by designers and gaps to fill with later research.