The human urge to play greater than the urge to fight

Playful Negotiation for Serious People

As a social business, Rational Games uses playful methods to teach negotiation in order to then support initiatives and individuals that make creative use of games and play to resolve conflict. We measure our success by the amount of time and money that we invest in curating innovative initiatives that make a clear contribution to this mission.

Mark Young at TEDxWHU

It was my privilege to tell our story at a recent TedX Conference. We truly believe that the urge to play is greater than the urge to fight. In the talk I explain how we are putting that into action.

Blog

June 2023

THE TURNING POINT: When Competition Turns to Cooperation

“Are we looking at the same problem?” The above question seems simple & is yet so powerful. Why?

May 2023

THE BEAUTY OF COMPETITION: Judging in the Warsaw Round

This month saw a highly enjoyable “gig” for me: participation in the team of jury “experts” at the Warsaw Negotiation Round (WNR).

April 2023

WHEN STONES CAN SPEAK: The Power of Lego Serious Play

As a serious practitioner of teaching and doing negotiation playfully, I have for some time been intrigued by the apparently rather sophisticated series of training and certification courses on offer from Lego Serious Play.  

March 2023

SURELY WE CANNOT LET HIM GET AWAY WITH IT: Peace vs. Justice in Ukraine

The dueling speeches in Moscow and Warsaw last week were nothing new, but vividly contrasted the divided positions not only of the two “principals”, again bringing up the central question: when will it be time to find a negotiated solution?

February 2023

NEGOTIATING WITH ChatGPT: read to the very end!

Will I ever be made redundant because of AI? Those were my exact thoughts 10 years ago when I witnessed the rise of Machine Learning and AI startups and reflected on what I want to become in life.

January 2023

BOARDING THE TRAIN OF HOPE: Introducing Our Latest Grantee

May I please take the occasion of our last blog of 2022 to introduce our latest grantee, the Train of Hope in Dortmund, Germany (TOH).

Each month, we muse about some aspect of negotiation, gamification or philanthropy and its effect on our work and world. Comments welcome!

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Message

Dr. Mark Young, CEO of Rational Games Inc.

Approach

Our business is built around three elements: negotiation training as a service, games and play as a unique way to provide that service and philanthropy as the reason we do what we do.

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Negotiation Training

We offer professional coaching and training services that make use of practical and playful approaches to develop win-win negotiation skills through real-world problem-solving experiences.

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Philanthropy

We seek strong partnerships with like-minded social businesses, foundations and private philanthropists who share our conflict-solving philosophy through the universal power of play and who can amplify our impact.

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Games

We develop proprietary games, applications and theatrical experiences that reinforce our practice of win-win negotiation and show our clients that they can take fun seriously.

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