Clients climb the stairs to a small office on Clockmakers Wynd with questions about tax, cash flow and growth. The conversation that matters is rarely the one they came for. Step into the adviser's chair, notice what others miss, and ask the one question that changes everything.
A chartered accountant who founded Leadership International in 1997 and has designed and delivered leadership programmes around the world, for organisations including Rolls-Royce, Shell and Unilever. A Fellow of the Institute of Leadership and Management, a former leadership lecturer with the Open University and a DBA graduate of the University of Dundee. His book Above the Dry Cleaners follows an accountant whose real skill is noticing, and asking the question that helps people see their situation differently.
Founder of the Learning Lab, a growing collection of free games and simulations for business and management education. She designed and built this game: turning Ian's advisory practice into scaffolded challenges, instant feedback and in-class discussion that help students practise the judgement employers value.
“I tried the greenwashing detective in my class also. I teach multiple programs, so in three sections, one hundred and eighty students… they loved it. They really loved it.”
“Yesterday I used what I learned with a supplier… ‘Can you please send me the data to actually validate that claim and under which criteria can I use that name?’ … That’s also a concrete example of what I’ve learned.”
The skills employers keep asking graduates for, practised here in real advisory situations.
Each client links to an observation from Above the Dry Cleaners. Read the chapters to go deeper.
Chartered accountant, founder of Leadership International and international leadership trainer. He brings real advisory dilemmas and the questioning approach behind Above the Dry Cleaners. LinkedIn · Books
Learning designer behind the Learning Lab. She turned that practice into a game: scaffolded difficulty, instant feedback and in-class discussion, built for business and management students. LinkedIn · Learning Lab
Students rehearse the judgement real advisers use every day, safely and repeatedly, before they meet a client. Practice provides the realism. Education provides the structure to learn from it.
The clients, businesses and stories in this game are fictional, written for learning. Any resemblance to real people or businesses is coincidental. The adviser's way of working is inspired by Above the Dry Cleaners by Dr Ian Thomson. Prototype for review. Game design © Dr Ying Wu, Learning Lab.
Scoring: clue 100 · hidden bonus clue 150 · powerful question 300 · good question 120. Powerful questions in a row build a streak (+25% each). Everything is multiplied by your chair: Apprentice × 1, Adviser × 1.5, Master × 2. On Master, every second left when you pick the powerful question adds 5 more (× 2). If you are down to your last 2 drops, you get up to 3 back before the next client. Six clients in all, about 15 minutes.
In class: the text is larger and each client ends with a discussion prompt, so the room can debate the question before moving on.