What can OD&D learn from D&D?
Ok, I admit it, I’m a geek. It’s a social identity I mostly push to the background when I’m at work, primarily coming out in ‘safe’ ways — “Yes, I’ve watched all the Star Wars/Lord of the Rings films” — and not in the “I spend some of my spare time playing Dungeons & Dragons” kind of way.
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Why am I writing about this?
Well, I’ve just got back from Roffey Park’s excellent Organisation Development [OD] conference (#RPOD23) and have many different thoughts and ideas which I want to build into my practice. I’m hoping to also blog about some of the serious ones, but I wanted to start with this more playful idea because I think there are some useful things in Dungeons & Dragons [D&D] which can apply in Organisation Design & Development [OD&D]. My aim with this blog is partly to ‘try something out’ (blogging is something I’ve been interested in for a while) and I’m also aiming to play with and explore ideas for my own learning. If it’s of interest to other people too that’s a bonus!
In writing this blog there will be things I’ve missed or mis-represented, so would welcome feedback. I know a reasonable amount about both but I wouldn’t claim deep expertise in all parts of Organisation Design & Development [OD&D] or Dungeons & Dragons [D&D]. But I hope this might be an interesting starting point, which in the spirit of ‘Yes, and…’ could be built upon further.
Has anyone written about this before?
I haven’t remotely done a systematic literature review, but I have done a brief google search. So far as my research could bring up, one LinkedIn article has been written before about Organisation Development and D&D. I found a couple of published papers about Tabletop Roleplaying Games for use in leadership development (Funk, 2021) and Roleplaying as Experiential Learning (Harris et al, 2023). And I found some articles with leadership lessons from D&D (here, here and here). Those all have some interesting ideas, but I have a few different thoughts… and I also believe in the value of ‘reinventing the wheel’ (see Stephen Cottrell, Hit the Ground Kneeling) because then I have the opportunity to grapple for myself with the issues, and to think about how I want to use this in my OD&D practice. So because I think I might have something to contribute to a discussion, I’m going ahead with this blog.
For the un-initiated, what is Dungeons & Dragons?
If you’ve not come across it before, D&D is a Roleplaying game usually played by friends sat around a table. It’s been around since 1974 but has gained a lot of popularity recently particularly because of highly successful brands such as Critical Role and Dimension 20 (others also available) which stream their games online on Twitch and YouTube. These shows are long-form entertainment in the extreme, particularly Critical Role, as a single stream will cover a game ‘session’ which can be between 3–5 hours. A whole ‘campaign’ is made up of multiple sessions and multiple storylines coming together (and in Critical Role’s case run to hundreds of hours). You could think of a session as like a book chapter/TV episode in a very large series such as A Game of Thrones and the campaign as the whole book/series
In a D&D group, there will typically be somewhere between 4–8 people playing the game. One of the people will be a ‘Dungeon Master’ or ‘Game Master’ while the other people are known as ‘Player Characters’. The ‘Player Characters’ each design the character they want to be. They make choices such as whether to be a human, elf or dwarf character and whether that character will be a fighter (good at fighting), a wizard (good at magic spells) or a cleric (good at healing other characters). There are lots more options and choices but you get the idea. Those ‘Player Characters’ then only play the character they have designed. They roleplay as their character making decisions about how to respond in the moment, improvising to situations they face and talking as their character. The group of characters within the game is referred to as the ‘party’. The ‘Game Master’ [GM] creates the world that the characters inhabit, sometimes as narrator to events, sometimes roleplaying as other people in the world who could be an ally or an antagonist to the party. Depending on the style preferred by the group, some D&D campaigns might be oriented towards lots of battles against monsters (perhaps that dragon you meet in its dungeon lair…) while others might focus more on roleplaying and story-driven events in the world. Dice rolls play an important part in determining success or failure when a character tries to do something like whether they can swing the sword and find a chink in an opponent’s armour to hurt them or can leap across a chasm. The rolls are mainly on a ‘D20’, a 20-sided dice. There’s more to it than that but it should give you the basics.
So what can OD&D learn from D&D?
Organisation Design and Development involves looking at the things which make organisations work, and supporting organisations to make improvements in a way which puts people at the centre. For a better definition than mine see for example Roffey Park’s definition. I’m not here distinguishing much between Organisation Design and Organisation Development (there are whole books written on that), but I’m using ‘OD&D’ as a term mainly because I identify as a joint OD&D practitioner and because of the playful similarity with D&D as an abbreviation.
Neil Mullarkey (who was speaking at #RPOD23) highlights that there is a lot that leaders and OD&D practitioners can learn from improv, particularly in its ‘Yes, and…’ mindset which affirms and builds on what other people contribute. D&D is in many ways also like improv: see especially Dimension 20 in which the cast are mainly from improv comedy backgrounds. There are also some unique things that D&D can teach to OD&D in slightly different ways to improv. As with any organisation, there are lots of different dimensions to success or failure and what works well or doesn’t. I’ll be focusing on Critical Role because it’s generally acknowledged for setting a high bar (in part, see the existence of the Matt Mercer effect!). A home game of D&D might not reach all these aspirations, but will generally be working towards them.
1. Leadership is distributed and self-organising.
2. People are connected by purpose.
3. ‘Yes, and…’ builds a shared story.
4. Everyone is included around the table.
Leadership is distributed and self-organising
There are multiple elements of leadership which could be explored in D&D. In positional terms, the GM has leadership responsibility, but can’t be the only leader in the room for a successful D&D game. Sometimes there might be a ‘party leader’ in-game, but more often it’s distributed. Different characters might show leadership at different times depending on the situation, and the act of leadership is self-organised and spontaneous. For Critical Role, Matt Mercer has an important positional leadership role as the GM but you quickly see when watching that he sees his position as a facilitator/servant leader. The rest of the players self-organise within the game and while there may be need of a spokesperson at points, they all lead in multiple ways. The players step up in the moment to lead if they feel they have something to offer within the dynamics of the group and the game. And when it comes to the formal organisation of the company Critical Role, you wouldn’t realise from watching the show that Travis Willingham is the CEO because he doesn’t wield that positional power in-game. The willingness to get out of the way, focusing on service and co-operation when positionally in a leadership role contributes to the great dynamics in the group which is at the heart of Critical Role’s success.
The long-form game of D&D encourages a distributed model of leadership, in which everyone at the table is an equal participant and could equally lead. Some people might like the role of speaking on behalf of the party more or less, but all contribute to decision-making and can lead on things they are more comfortable with (e.g. if a character is a shy wizard they might not be a spokesperson for the party but is sure to be leading investigations when there are magical runes or puzzles). A self-organising group with distributed leadership makes for a more satisfying experience for all involved, as they come together to tell a great story and allow everyone space to shine. Those types of D&D groups keep meeting for years, creating new shared stories together both in-game and as humans sat round a table connecting. Organisations similarly need space for people to be leaders within the areas they can and want to be, and that involves people with positional power stepping back. When people with positional leadership roles step back from always being ‘the leader’ (aka the person who says what to do next) they create space that others can be invited to step into, and space that people can discover more of their voice.
People are connected by purpose
In D&D games, the GM and players create a shared story together which progresses through the highs and lows of a multi-episode adventure. This highlights the power of purpose for connecting people in generative conversations in which there are multiple possibilities. This aligns with Gervase Bushe’s model of generative change as purpose unites people and allows more space for multiple possibilities and emergence. In Critical Role, the GM Matt Mercer creates an open world for the players at his table to explore. In his role he holds the leadership responsibility of creating purpose both in-game (a compelling story arc with multiple possibilities for characters) and outside the game (a shared space for his friends to have fun). Within the story arc that Matt creates he gives the players huge choice. There are multiple threads which the players could follow to progress the story (or go in a different direction from it) and the choices they make matter.
Running a D&D game, the GM needs to provide an overarching story/setting which is interesting for the party to move forward in. Without purpose (a story arc), a D&D game can be so open-ended that it’s self-defeating and after a while the players will lose interest because there isn’t a shared story that binds them together. Yet a GM who is so intent on the story they want to tell can railroad their players into only following one track. That’s also disillusioning for players who feel their choices as characters in the world no longer matter. When the in-game story sets purpose for the players but doesn’t bind them to only a single route of achieving success, the outside the game purpose (having fun) is achieved. Organisations similarly need purpose which unites people to move forward and allows space for multiple possibilities. This purpose needs to take people forward but not be so restrictive that when a someone talks about ‘aligning to the purpose’ that everyone hears ‘my way or the high way’. An open purpose with space for emergence creates a more rewarding experience for everyone.
‘Yes, and…’ builds a shared story
While the GM has a positional responsibility for the purpose around the table, it’s in building a shared story that D&D can really shine. As with improv, D&D needs a ‘yes, and…’ mindset. You see this in how positively the Critical Role cast build on each other’s ideas in their games. Yes, of course Critical Role is a made-up story where none of it is real… and the cast always accept the fictional thing that one person’s character has just said or done, and they build on it. You’ll never hear Matt Mercer as GM say “don’t be ridiculous, you can’t do that”. Sometimes in response to a player pushing the boundaries of how the game rules work (e.g. each spell has a definition of what it can or can’t do), Matt might say they can’t do something but it will never be as a put-down. And more often if it’s a creative interpretation of what might be possible his famous response is “you can certainly try” and then gives the player a dice roll chance to do something like run up a 15ft wall.
The best GMs are facilitators, able to hold the story in a way which allows others to build their own ideas into the world too. That can be through character backstories which players work with the GM on to integrate into the world about what brought them to this point in time in the new story. It can also be through in-game actions as characters interact with each other and the created world. When players feel that their character has been able to take actions and make choices which influence the course of the game, they will keep buying into the game continuing. Similarly in organisations while leaders have a responsibility for purpose, people in the organisation need to see that their input counts and can contribute to a shared story. A ‘yes, and…’ mindset in organisations is about making other people look good and building more capacity for creativity and generativity.
Everyone is included round the table
It’s everyone’s responsibility when playing D&D to look out for and include other people around the table. The shared story is much richer for the different perspectives people bring when everyone is able to build and participate in the story, weaving together backstories and present interactions to create a much more compelling tale than if it was only one person’s vision. The cast of Critical Role are very deliberate about giving everyone at the table opportunities to contribute, and Matt as the GM weaves together character backstories into his overarching story so that the characters are connected and motivated. In playing the game, characters might want to have a conversation with one or two of the other characters, but other scenes will prioritise other players. All the cast try and make sure these are shared equally. They look out for if someone is speaking less, particularly guests on the show, and invite opportunities to participate in the story they are co-creating. Critical Role are also strong advocates of diversity & inclusion publicly. While the main cast are white, they recognise their responsibility to work towards a more inclusive society and are deliberate about bringing in and championing people with a range of backgrounds and ethnicities.
In D&D, all the players around the table know that both what they say and do in character is fictional and that there are real-world consequences of what they do and how they do it. If a character (however “in character” the player is) shoots down another character’s ideas, it hurts in real-life for the player who feels belittled or made to feel othered. If some players dominate conversation and others don’t have opportunities to speak up, the game will deteriorate for those being excluded and will create a worse experience for all when those people leave the group if it becomes a pattern. All people in a D&D group have a responsibility to keep looking at themselves and how they are showing up to make sure that everyone is included as an equal participant in the shared story. Even better, as people spend more time with each other they can feel safe and belong, and are able to ride the highs and lows of life together (in-game and outside the game). In organisations, it’s essential that everyone sees their responsibility for including other people as equals. This creates a more rewarding experience for everyone. Being part of any group comes with an ongoing responsibility to keep looking at how you show up as an individual and deliberately include and champion people’s whose voices aren’t being heard.
Concluding thoughts
At the heart of a game of D&D is a group of people coming together in a shared experience around a table. They create their own story, with the GM playing an important role in facilitating how this comes together. I think a game of D&D has some powerful implications how organisations work and OD&D practitioners should pay attention to some of the great group dynamics of D&D. A group of people playing a game of D&D won’t stay a group of people. They become a group of friends. Shouldn’t our organisations be more like that? We could all do with learning from our favourite “nerdy-ass voice actors” in Critical Role that organisations are most successful and personally rewarding for all the people when:
1. Leadership is distributed and self-organising.
2. People are connected by purpose.
3. ‘Yes, and…’ builds a shared story.
4. Everyone is included around the table.
There’s a lot more that I could say about D&D and OD&D, in fact so much so that in writing this blog I ended up writing two blogs, the second of which I’ll edit and post soon. However, the above strike me as four important concepts for organisations which I think are well embodied in Critical Role and Dungeons & Dragons. What have I missed?
