The Search for The Lost Dutchman's Gold Mine

"Dig where the gold is, unless you are just looking for exercise."

"Dutchman" is a fun team building simulation that focuses on themes of leadership, planning and communications. It is THE world-class exercise on inter-team collaboration. We know of no other exercise that is as engaging and effective in the world marketplace (and this game is used worldwide!). Over the past 15 years, Dutchman has entertained and enlightened participants worldwide.

Read the information below if you desire general information about the exercise and its outcomes. Click on the links to the left for detailed information. There is a LOT of explanatory information about the exercise on this site since its purpose it more for support of our products than sales. Please go to www.PerformanceManagementCompany.com for purchasing this exercise.

If you would rather not browse this information, we can always send you information or a proposal
that highlights the key points of the exercise and details purchasing options. Another option is to
call us and have me walk through it with you. The more information we have about your situation,
the better we can respond to your needs. (Click here to email Scott)
Please note there is much more information here on the website.

If you are a user of Eagle Flight's Gold of the Desert Kings, you will really like Dutchman. It is faster, simpler, better,
cleaner, and much less expensive. See our FAQ page for more info or, Click Here to read a Comparison of the two games

Dutchman is a powerful and proven team building event that plays with organizations of all kinds. Feedback from sessions is extremely good due to the energy the play creates, a solid instructional design and its outstanding debriefing qualities. Players leave with tangible ideas for better communications, improved teamwork and ideas for leadership.

The setting is modern-day Southwestern United States in the Superstition Mountains of Arizona. Outfitted in Cowboy hats and colorful bandannas, teams go on a search for gold from the famous Lost Dutchman's Mine, first discovered by Jacob Waltz in the 1860s and lost since he died in 1892. (click here for the "History.")

The exercise focuses on inter-table collaboration as its main outcome yet it links easily to issues of leadership, motivation, strategy implementation, communications and a variety of other organizational issues. Team size is 5 or 6 people and there is no limit to the number of participants. We've successfully delivered sessions for groups of 8 and groups of 600, from 11-year olds at a YMCA to senior managers at multi-national corporations and from shopfloor personnel in manufacturing plants to executives at international conferences.

Download a 3 meg powerpoint file about using Dutchman for large events (click here)
or get a pictorial overview of the play of the game by clicking here.

This exercise is truly outstanding for a highly interactive morning or afternoon event. In 3 to 4 hours, participants get to play and then fully debrief the event and discuss real opportunities for improvement. It functions very well as a full-day program within a conference or as a specific training event on team building, leadership and collaboration. Many organizations use it in multi-day training and leadership development programs.

	Click here for information about purchasing one of the many different available versions! We have a number of different versions and price points available to suit different training needs. Click here to download information about the Dutchman's Gold Mine Game!

	We Rent the exercise for a one-time delivery! This is great if you have a large group and want an easy-to-deliver exercise, with free coaching until you feel you are ready to go. You may also be able to apply part the rental price to a later purchase of the game! And you get our full, professional support by telephone and email. Bombproof, too!!! Guaranteed. Click Here for More Information

We have sold hundreds of these exercises and have consultant users worldwide who have delivered the exercise to tens of thousands of people. We have users in almost every industry and a variety of educational institutions using it for teaching. The exercise is used to teach a variety of different learning skills, thinking skills and personality inventories, used for Project Management Training (and given educational credit units from the Project Management Institute) and all sorts of other uses. We have this exercise set in Japan (Zipangu) and in China (The Silk Road Adventure) as well as translations in German, Spanish, Romanian and other languages.

Lost Dutchman is sometimes confused with another vendor's product, Gold of The Desert Kings.
If you would like to read our perspective on the comparison between them, please click here.

We have a variety of delivery options, too. Some stress communications, some stress collaboration, some have higher risk factors, etc. Please recognize that this has been one of our two flagship products since 1993 and these programs are still undergoing development.

Go to Performance Management Company's sales site for current pricing information as well as complete descriptions of the different Lost Dutchman's Gold Mine games and our other products.

Downloadable articles on Team Performance

1. Scott's article on High Performing Teams and the concept of Flow (click here)
2. Scott's article on Lost Dutchman and its link to X-Teams and improved results (click here)
3. Scott's article on Collaboration as an oxymoron for most organizations (click here)
4. Scott's article on Square Wheels (in the November 2008 Strategy Magazine) (click here)

Contact Scott Simmerman for a question or more information
at Scott@squarewheels.com or 864-292-8700

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