Playing Lean Facilitator Training

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The best way to teach Lean Startup isn't through slides—it is through doing.

Playing Lean is an award-winning board game used by facilitators, coaches, and educators around the world to bring Lean Startup thinking to life in a way that sticks. In a single session, participants make real decisions, face real trade-offs, and walk away with a genuine feel for how innovation actually works.

This full-day Facilitator Training is your ticket to running powerful Playing Lean workshops of your own—confidently, expertly, and with everything you need from day one.

Why Playing Lean?

Playing Lean is a "flight simulator" for Lean Startup, entrepreneurship, and innovation. Players navigate the hard choices of building a startup without risking real money or careers. It's fast-paced, competitive, and deeply insightful.

Recommended by thought leaders like Alexander Osterwalder and Ash Maurya, this award winning board game drives learning, engages the players and makes the lessons stick for longer, Playing Lean lets facilitators teach:

• Lean Startup methodology
• Build-Measure-Learn cycle
• Iterative development
• Technical debt
• Pivoting
• Customer Development
• Go-to-market timing
• Problem-Solution Fit
• Product-Market Fit
• Scaling
• Lean Canvas
• Business Model Canvas
• Value Proposition Canvas
• Innovation Accounting
• Jobs-to-be-done framework

Who is this training for?

This workshop is designed for practitioners who want to use Playing Lean as part of their professional toolkit:

• Internal innovation and agile coaches looking to run impactful workshops inside their organisations.
• Independent coaches and consultants who want to add a proven, engaging tool to their service offering.
• Accelerators and incubators seeking structured ways to teach Lean Startup to cohorts.
• Universities and educational institutions that teach entrepreneurship and want to go beyond lectures.

If you help others learn how to innovate then this is the right training for you.

What you'll learn

Everyone can buy the Playing Lean game and play a round with colleagues. Running a workshop that actually delivers deep learning is a different matter entirely.

In this full-day live training, you'll go well beyond the rules of the game. I will share everything I have developed through years of running Playing Lean workshops at events and conferences around the world, including how to:

• Introduce Lean Startup before the game begins, using the official facilitator slide deck that you'll keep and adapt for your own workshops.
• Facilitate the game itself, including managing group dynamics, drawing out insights as play unfolds, and connecting in-game moments to real-world practice.
• Lead a retrospective after play, with multiple formats to choose from depending on your audience and desired learning outcomes.
• Incorporate additional exercises that extend the learning beyond the game.
• Integrate Playing Lean into your existing coaching programmes, accelerator curricula, or university courses.

You'll also get hands-on practice in the facilitator role, and direct, personalised feedback on your facilitation style.

What you'll walk away with

Attending this training makes you an officially trained Playing Lean Facilitator. That comes with a host of practical assets:

• The official Playing Lean facilitator slide deck, ready to use and fully adaptable.
• Backstories for every Experiment Card in the game, so you can turn each one into a rich teaching moment.
• Ready-made workshop templates for Business Model Canvas and Lean Canvas sessions.
• Downloadable presentations, stickers, and exercise setups for immediate use.
• References and resources for your ongoing development as a facilitator.
• Access to the Playing Lean Facilitator Club, an exclusive community where certified facilitators from around the world share ideas, workshop experiences, and opportunities.

Why join now?

Playing Lean has been used by thousands of facilitators worldwide since 2015. Coaches and educators consistently report that it creates the kind of "aha moments" in workshops that lectures and case studies simply can't match:

“Playing Lean is a well thought out tool to introduce Lean Startup concepts into new environments, allowing players to realize in a fun way how to "think Lean.” — Jorge Castellote, Transformation & Innovation Leader

“My client’s response to one of my workshops after the Facilitator training was: It was one of the most engaging and interactive workshops that they had attended.” — Joeri Timmermans, Startup advisor and Coach

“Playing Lean is an excellent game to create an understanding of the essence of Lean Startup, provide a basis for good discussions and make theory into practice.” — Casper Lund, Growth Advisor

“People who are interested in Lean Startup and who don't want to read the book by Eric Ries, companies at the start or in the middle of a transition benefit most of playing the game because they can use it as something to reference.” — Bert Heymans, Business Analyst

“The Playing Lean game is a great way for management teams, product teams and delivery teams to learn the dynamics of the Lean Startup method.” — Andrew Kidd, CEO & Founder

“This game is a great way to introduce the Lean Startup philosophy to project managers and intrapreneurs. It's fun to play, but also gives plenty of opportunities for discussion about the different concepts of Lean Startup.” — Katia Van Belle, Change and Project Management Facilitator

“Playing Lean has very good dynamics that are well connected to real world practices. It's easy to connect situations from the game to those happening in real life.” — Miro Hegedić, Researcher, Mentor, Founder

As a certified Playing Lean Facilitator, you'll be uniquely positioned to deliver workshops that people genuinely enjoy—and genuinely learn from.

Venue and timing

The training will be at The Marble Arch Hotel by Thistle, Bryanston St, Marylebone, London W1H 7EH, United Kingdom.

We will start at 09:30 and finish by 16:30. Lunch will be served at 12:30.

Terms

The fee for one participant is £480 (£600 after). Lunch is included.

If I'm prevented from appearing I'll refund all fees 100%. If you register and decide you can't attend, you'll have a full credit up to 30 days prior. After that, no credits, since I can't afford that in terms of the learning dynamic.

Secure your spot. The cohort is small by design.

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