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Facilitator kit

Run Countermove with a leadership team in 90 minutes: the timings, the setup, and the questions that turn a game into a conversation about how your business grows.Last updated 19 October 2026

The 90 minutes at a glance

Run of show: each block and its length in minutes
Welcome and the brief10 min
Join and set up5 min
Quarter 115 min
Quarter 212 min
Halfway check5 min
Quarter 312 min
Quarter 412 min
Results4 min
Debrief15 min

Before the day

  • Play one year yourself in the market you will use. It takes about an hour.
  • Create the class (below) and test the link on a laptop and a phone.
  • One laptop per table of three or four. Phones work, but a laptop shows the accounts properly.
  • Check the Wi-Fi. If live AI is unavailable the game still runs: the Advisor and team answer from the engine's rules.
  • If every table shares one network, tell whoever runs your Countermove site how many tables will join. By default one network can add 60 new results to a class per day.
  • Print this kit for each table, or at least the debrief questions.

Create the class

  1. Open /class and name the class, for example “Leadership offsite, May”.
  2. Pick the market. Every table plays the same one, so the leaderboard is fair.
  3. Pick the board's mission. The challenger works best for a first session.
  4. Tick Hide the leaderboard until I reveal it.
  5. Copy the student link: /play?class=CODE. Put it on the screen or in the meeting chat.
  6. Keep the class page open on the main screen. Its teacher controls stay on that device only.

Tables competing head to head? Run a team match instead: 2 to 5 teams run rival brands in one market. Compare the two formats.

Run of show: 90 minutes

TimeWhat happensWhat you do
0:00 to 0:10Welcome and the briefOne year, one call a quarter, two AI rivals that remember. The board's mission is the scorecard.
0:10 to 0:15Join and set upTables open the link, name their company and pick a seat. Nobody needs Customise.
0:15 to 0:30Quarter 1The longest quarter: tables are learning the desk. Ask them to read the brief before they decide.
0:30 to 0:42Quarter 2Before they press play, ask each table what they expect to happen.
0:42 to 0:47Halfway checkOne minute per table: what surprised you? Keep the leaderboard hidden.
0:47 to 0:59Quarter 3News starts to bite. Point tables to the Advisor to test a what-if.
0:59 to 1:11Quarter 4Call five minutes left. The board reads the full-year numbers.
1:11 to 1:15ResultsReveal the leaderboard. Then ask who met the mission, which is not always the winner.
1:15 to 1:30DebriefPick three or four questions below. Close with one action each leader takes back to work.

Pacing tips

  • Put a visible timer on each quarter. Tables that finish early can test a what-if with the Advisor.
  • A table that falls behind can accept the AI team's plan for one quarter and catch up.
  • One person drives. Rotate the seat each quarter so everyone argues a call.
  • Don't explain the engine up front. Let the results teach, then debrief.
  • Games save in the browser they started in. Keep a spare laptop with the link open.

Debrief questions

Each lesson below is something the game makes visible. Ask what happened at the tables first, then what it means for your business.

Rented share

Share bought with deals and stock loading fades when the deal stops. The board's score discounts it.

  • How much of your share gain came from deals? What happened the quarter after you cut them?
  • Where in our business are we renting share today, and what would it cost to own it?

60:40, brand to activation

Brand media builds memory that pays back slowly and lasts. Activation lifts this quarter and fades. Binet and Field's average across IPA cases is about 60:40: a benchmark. In Countermove the optimiser works out each brand's own split.

  • What split did your table run, and when did you change it?
  • Which profit squeeze tempted you to cut brand? What did that cost a year on?
  • What is our real split, and who decides it?

Double jeopardy

Small brands have fewer buyers, and those buyers are slightly less loyal. Challengers grow by reaching new buyers; loyalty rises with size.

  • Did your growth come from more buyers, or from the same buyers buying more?
  • Which of our plans count on loyalty to deliver growth?

Payback

Every business case shows the cash up front, the payback in years and the effect on earnings. Some pay back after the year ends.

  • Which case did you approve, and when does it pay back?
  • Did a weak first year make you turn down a case that paid back later?
  • Which of our investments do we judge on a one-year clock when the payback is longer?

Close: each leader writes down one decision they will make differently next quarter, and says it out loud.