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The Training That Changed a £450k Bottom Line

In 2002, Paul Taylor from DHL approached me with a challenge: transform his team into high performers whilst delivering improved productivity and reduced costs.

We didn’t give them a lecture. We didn’t show them a PowerPoint.

We immersed them in a business simulation - making cardboard dragsters under commercial pressure, redesigning processes, solving real-time problems, and experiencing the friction of cross-functional collaboration.

Paul’s conclusion of the results? An immediate 8% productivity improvement, more engaged Team Leaders across the 900 staff, process improvements that realised £450,000 in cost reduction over nine months, and a near doubling of output during the busy Christmas Season.

This isn’t an isolated case. It’s what happens when you replace explanation with experience. Every year since we created Slingshot other clients have significantly improved a variety of results.

Why Simulations Work: The Research Evidence

J. Newstrom’s research on training effectiveness is unambiguous: simulations score as highly effective for creating participant acceptance, building interpersonal skills, and improving problem-solving abilities.

They also score moderately effective for knowledge acquisition and attitude change - making them one of the most versatile training methods available.

Compare this to lectures (low effectiveness for most outcomes) or self-paced e-learning (moderate at best), and the business case becomes clear: simulations deliver superior results across multiple learning objectives simultaneously.

But why? What makes experiential learning so powerful?

The Kolb Learning Cycle: How Adults Actually Learn

David Kolb’s research reveals that effective learning requires four elements:

1. Concrete Experience – Doing something
2. Reflective Observation – Thinking about what happened
3. Abstract Conceptualisation – Drawing principles from experience
4. Active Experimentation – Testing new approaches

Traditional training focuses on #3 (here’s the theory) and hopes participants will figure out #1, #2, and #4 on their own.

Research proves they don’t.

Simulations embed all four elements into a structured learning experience. Participants do something (concrete experience), reflect on what happened (observation), identify principles (conceptualisation), and redesign their approach (experimentation) - all within a compressed timeframe.

Our Slingshot simulation, the Hat Factory, the Mars Surface Rover and Black Bear all exemplify this.

In Slingshot, teams produce cardboard dragsters across three production runs. After each run, they measure performance, debrief what happened, identify improvement opportunities, and redesign their process.

They experience the complete improvement cycle - from chaos to optimisation - in a single day.

The Emotional Engagement Factor: Why People Remember

Here’s a truth that surprises many training managers: people don’t remember what they’re told. They remember what they feel.

Simulations create emotional engagement that lectures cannot match.

The frustration of bottlenecks. The exhilaration of breakthrough performance. The tension of customer pressure. The satisfaction of solving complex problems collaboratively.

These emotions create memory anchors. Six months later, participants may not recall specific frameworks from a lecture, but they vividly remember the simulation experience - and the lessons embedded within it.

This emotional engagement also drives behavioural change. Carter’s research demonstrates that training methods must align with desired affect to maximise effectiveness. Simulations naturally create the emotional states - challenge, urgency, collaboration - that mirror real workplace pressures.

The Safe-Fail Environment: Learning Without Consequences

One of simulation’s greatest advantages is consequence-free failure.

In the workplace, mistakes cost money, damage relationships, and erode confidence. In a simulation, failure becomes a learning tool.

Teams can experiment with radical process redesigns. They can test communication strategies. They can experience the consequences of poor planning - and then immediately redesign and try again.

This creates a learning velocity impossible in real-world settings.

The Slingshot simulation deliberately builds failure into Run 1. Teams receive unclear instructions, insufficient resources, and conflicting priorities—mirroring the reality of most organisational change initiatives.

The debrief after Run 1 is where the magic happens. Participants identify exactly what went wrong and why. Then they redesign the process for Run 2.

The improvement between Run 1 and Run 3 is typically 300-500%. That’s not a typo. Teams producing 4 dragsters in Run 1 regularly produce 15-20 in Run 3.

More importantly, they understand why performance improved - and can apply those principles to their real work.

The Transfer Challenge: From Simulation to Workplace

The criticism of simulations is always the same: “It’s just a game. Will they actually use this at work?”

Fair question. Here’s the evidence:

Research by Baldwin and Ford demonstrates that transfer of training depends on three factors: trainee characteristics, training design, and work environment.

Simulations excel on all three:

Trainee Characteristics
Simulations build self-efficacy (belief in one’s ability to succeed) through repeated practice and visible improvement. Participants leave confident they can apply what they’ve learned.

Training Design
Simulations provide identical elements (problem-solving under pressure, cross-functional collaboration, process improvement) and general principles (systems thinking, communication, measurement) that transfer directly to workplace contexts.

Work Environment
Post-simulation action planning and manager involvement ensure that learning connects to real organisational challenges.

At MLR, we recommend and support learning transfer through:

• Pre-simulation briefing connecting the simulation to specific organisational challenges
• Structured debriefs extracting principles applicable to participants’ real work
• Action planning identifying immediate applications of simulation insights
• Follow-up coaching supporting implementation of simulation learning

The ROI Reality: What Simulations Actually Cost

“Simulations sound expensive.”

If you’re serious about capturing the 353% ROI that research proves training can deliver, it’s time to talk about delivery method.

Traditional Training Approach: - 1-day classroom training: £3,000 - Participant time (10 people × 1 day × £500/day): £5,000 - Training cost: £8,000. R.O.I. 10% transfer of learning so maybe 10% of the behaviour change you wanted valued at as little as £800. Meaning some 340% of the learning transfer value has been lost and you are down £7,200

Simulation-Based Approach: - 1-day simulation workshop: £4,500 - Participant time (10 people × 1 day × £500/day): £5,000 – Training Cost £9,500. R.O.I. Transfer rate: 40% - so you get 40% of the behaviour changes that you wanted and almost half your investment back within months. Effective training cost is only £2,700.

Simulation delivers 5.5x better value.

And that’s before calculating the business impact of faster capability development, higher engagement, and sustained behavioural change.

The Slingshot Difference: Process Improvement in a Day

Our Slingshot simulation was co-created with Richard Perry specifically to address the challenge of teaching process improvement, systems thinking, and cross-functional collaboration in a compressed timeframe.

What participants experience:

Run 1: Chaos: Unclear goals, poor communication, bottlenecks, quality issues, customer dissatisfaction. Sound familiar?

Run 2: Improvement: Teams redesign the process, clarify roles, improve communication, and measure results. Performance typically improves by 10X.

Run 3: Optimisation: Further refinement, standardisation, and continuous improvement. Performance typically doubles from Run 2.

What participants learn:

• How to identify and eliminate bottlenecks
• The impact of clear communication on performance
• The power of measurement and feedback loops
• How to balance speed, quality, and customer satisfaction
• The importance of process design before execution
• How to collaborate effectively across functions

What organisations gain:

• Teams who understand process thinking
• Managers who can diagnose and solve performance issues
• A common language for discussing improvement
• Immediate application to real organisational challenges

Your Next Step: Experience the Difference

If you’re ready to move beyond lectures and PowerPoints to training that actually changes behaviour, start here:

1.       Review your current training portfolio. How much is explanation vs. experience?
2.       Identify one critical capability that requires behavioural change, not just knowledge.
3.       Pilot a simulation-based approach with a small group and measure the difference.
4.       Track transfer rates at 30, 60, and 90 days to quantify the ROI.

...Or experience Slingshot for yourself.

Order the Slingshot Starter Kit:
🌐 www.mlruk.com/slingshot

📞 +44 (0)1793 686512

📧 https://www.mlruk.com