Caitlin Green

It's the first time, obviously, you're playing almost to lose, really trying to understand the rules of the game.

But the second time you realize that there are strategies involved,

especially when you see how other people are playing the game.

And there are so many elements in there.

It's not really a highly strategic game as such, but there are strategic avenues that you can take in order to win the game.

And it's really the second time you realize, oh, actually,

You know, I could have done this.

I could have used this resource to win or I should have played this move in order to win.

That's really when you think, okay, this is a fantastic board game to mimic the strategic environment that we live in.

It is.

I think a Catan really involves communication, interpersonal relationships.

It helps knowing your opponents, especially because there's a lot of negotiation involved.

And charming, charisma, all that helps in terms of, in a way, getting what you want in order to win the game.

Yeah, so one of the things that we do in strategic management in terms of business studies is really think about analyzing the external environment.

So political environment, the technological innovations, the social processes, as well as the internal environment, such as what resources do we have?

What are our capabilities as an organization?

When you're playing Catan, you have to think about those two elements at an ongoing basis.

you need to think about what's your opponents trying to do, what resources might they have, and what resources do you have in order for you to negotiate with them to offer them the best, I guess, trade-off, you know, to say, this is what I have, and I know you have these elements, and you need this to build the next house, so let's make a trade.

There is a sense of luck in Catan as well, because you do have to roll a dice in order to get the numbers and also get the resources.

So I would say there's that element of luck.