FEDERAL RESERVE BANK, NEW YORK
Leveraging game theory to reveal the threat implicit bias poses to policy making
HUMAN CENTERED DESIGN | FACILITATION |GAMES DESIGN
“We are prone to overestimate how much we understand about the world and to underestimate the role of chance in events.”
Daniel Kahneman
The Federal Reserve Bank’s Office of Applied Critical Thinking (ACT), leverages insights from cognitive science and complex systems theory to raise awareness of the ways that many cognitive and collaborative practices fail us under conditions of complexity and uncertainty and of the corresponding need for a culture of intellectual humility.
I partnered with ACT to teach the team fundamentals of game design, design thinking, prototyping, and workshop facilitation. Together, we redefined the policy planning process for the department.
Note, the majority of materials and content developed at the FRBNY is confidential. Below is a snapshot of the types of games developed.
Project Highlights
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LED 6-MONTH GAMES DESIGN COURSE
Designed curriculum and led 6-month games design class for 20 Federal Reserve Employees
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DESIGNED 15+ FACILITATIONS
Created and facilitated scenario planning labs for members of the Executive Office. Labs were designed to mimic re-world ambiguity and highlight biases.
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LED 2 STRATEGIC PLANNING LABS
Developed and led planning workshops for 30+ members of the Executive Office. Labs were designed to promote team collaboration and clarify annual bank objectives.
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DESIGNED EXECUTIVE OFFICE SYSTEMS
Created suite of processes, tools and templates for the Executive Planning Office. Resources were leveraged to design future scenario planning labs and innovation.
IMPACT
As a result of my involvement in the department, the Executive Office:
Successfully planned two quarters of strategic priorities, which had not been accomplished in over five years
Built a new partnership between the Applied Critical Thinking Office and Executive Teams, opening the door for increased workshop participation and leadership buy-in
Created a detailed strategy for an organization-wide tournament, in partnership with The Good Judgment Project
Designed 10 games for the Office of Applied Critical Thinking to practice policy development in ambiguous and crisis scenarios
“Making better decisions starts with understanding this: uncertainty can work a lot of mischief.”
Annie Duke, Thinking in Bets