Patient Zero

Simulation Overview

How would you respond in the face of an unfolding zombie pandemic? Take the lead of a fictional country of your creation and face the demands of surviving a worldwide outbreak. Exploring the themes of adaptive leadership, crisis management, teamwork, and ethical decision-making players must respond in real-time to an unpredictable outbreak that questions the gap between stated values and actual behavior.

Time Requirement

• Introduction - 30 minutes
• Game Play - 1 hour to 1.5 hours
• Debrief - 45 minutes to 1 hour

The Story

This simulation places students in the role of a team of high-ranking advisors to a fictional country of their creation. Players choose what kind of country they will run from the ground up including their core values and economic structure. Then the clock begins as a worldwide outbreak of the Z1-N1 virus forces the leaders to make difficult ethical decisions. With limited data and external pressures, players must navigate between their stated beliefs and actual decisions.

At the end of the simulation, students will be informed of the state of their country, including infection rate, public morale, and the likelihood of collapse. Can you and your team rebound from the losses and setbacks of a global pandemic and lead your country safely into the future?

Learning Focus

• Apply knowledge of the adaptive leadership framework to solve complex problems with incomplete information and no historical solution.
• Learn about typical team dynamics and create capacity within teams in real-time to cope with problems that spark profound disagreement.
• Explore the tension created between stated values and actual behavior.
• Rebound from losses and setbacks by building resilience.

Topics Covered

• Leadership, Team Building, & Strategy Forming
• Communication & Organizational Behavior
• Group Dynamics & Group Decision-Making
• Leading through Uncertainty

See it in Action

This simulation is WCAG Compliant for the participants.

Each simulation comes with a Teaching Guidebook for the facilitator along with 1:1 facilitator training and free trials.

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This simulation is by Christopher Robichaud, Harvard Business School Publishing, and Forio