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strategy

The strategy
game:
mancala as
a metaphor
for change
management
in Africa

alex de voogt and kees hommes

RESEARCHERS

n chess, the large number of possible moves, and the associated

I analysis of a great many possible positions, has received much

ABSTRACT: A significant part of strategic thinking is
based on research on chess masters. For centuries,
chess has served as a model of strategy and has
provided material for expert models of thought.
Unfortunately, the chess model has two important
flaws concerning modern strategic management.
Firstly, chess is a game rooted in Western thoughts
of strategy. Secondly, chess gives little insight in
change management, since the game is relatively
static. This article presents a different metaphor
and seeks to provide insight into change
management for modern management situations,
particularly those found in southern Africa.
attention from researchers in computer science, economics and
psychology (eg Von Neumann and Morgenstern, 1944; De Groot, 1965;
Newell and Simon, 1972). Theories developed to understand and help play
chess have inspired researchers in artificial intelligence and cognitive
psychology. The work of these scientists, especially Von Neumann and
Morgenstern, as well as Simon, has also been considerable in shaping the
way we think about business, especially in terms of decision-making and
the problem-solving process. Chess has, therefore, provided a crucial
underlying metaphor to much of our thinking about operating in a real
business environment, despite its apparent abstract and trivial nature as a
“mere” game.
Different perspectives on strategic thinking have been developed using
different games as a starting point. Apart from chess, Go and other board
games have also received attention (see Gobet, De Voogt and Retschitzki,

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2004 for an overview). Go is popular in Japan and China
and despite being played with nothing more than black or
white pieces on a matrix board, it is regarded as the most
complex game yet invented and regularly played. It is
taught in some business schools, such as INSEAD, to
develop managerial skills and because it is believed to
provide an insight into the minds of cultures that have
proven to be highly successful. However, even Go cannot
give insight into fast-changing economic worlds and is not
familiar in the African context. The fact that the game is
played mostly in Asia has been regarded as presenting the
opportunity to obtain insights into Asian models of thought.
Nevertheless, Go appears to be as equally unequipped for
the modern management situation as is chess; Go may be
complex, but that comes from the diversity of positions
possible, rather than the fact that the situations can change
rapidly from one move to the next.
If a perfect metaphor for today’s changing and
uncertain business world could be found in a different
game, the study of the experts of that game could provide
immediate new insights into change and uncertainty
management. As Lakoff and Johnson (2003:3) state: “Our
ordinary conceptual system, in terms of which we both
think and act, is fundamentally metaphorical in nature.”
MATTERS OF CHANGE. Chess provides powerful metaphors to
managers because it is complex, subtle and the best players
are strategists rather than mere tacticians. Scientists are
attracted by the fact that chess, while having a vast number
of possible states, is completely deterministic. The problem
with chess, however, is that it is played out in a relatively
slow fashion, with little change between one position and
the next. While this is ideal for scientists, managers know
that real life is all too often characterised by sudden twists
and turns, by unexpected alterations with small changes
and massive potential consequences that appear to be
anything but deterministically calculable.
If change is a relevant theme for managers, and games
reflect competitive life, maybe our thinking about change in
competitive situations is better served with a game in which
change plays a dominant role. Ideally, as in real life, each
move should have multiple consequences on the board. All
changes should occur rapidly, and some should be too
difficult to calculate. There should be no gradual
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development of positions; instead, there should be a
dynamic fluctuating position in which a winning situation
may easily turn around and become a major loss. Such a
game comes closer to the experience of life in general and
business in particular. It would provide a much better
metaphor for strategic thinking than chess.
There is a candidate for this metaphor: a board game –
or, better, a group of board games – of particular relevance
to the African context. They are called mancala games, and
the large four-row versions with their complex playing rules
Scientists are attracted by the fact that
chess, while having a vast number of
possible states, is completely deterministic
are unique to the southern and south-eastern parts of
Africa, from Mozambique to Namibia and from Madagascar
to Kenya (see De Voogt, 1997).
Africa may appear as an unlikely place for such a game,
where business is not booming and top-class athletes,
rather than intellectual masters, are known to originate.
However, world champions of draughts, the first players of
blind chess, Awari masters and Bao masters (these last two
are mancala games) all come from sub-Saharan Africa (De
Voogt, 2005). Here, uncertainty is dealt with on a regular
basis. For the argument made here, it does not matter
where a game comes from, as long as we can learn from the
player’s approach.
MANAGING THE RULES. Unfortunately (but not surprisingly,
given the description), four-row mancala games are also
complex. The size of the board is flexible and determines
the duration of the game. A board, commonly dug in the
earth, consists of four rows of eight holes, but larger
boards also exist up to four rows of 32 holes. Each player
or group of players owns two rows of the board and a
number of counters, commonly stones or seeds, which
are distributed in a fixed array on the outset of the game.
The inner two rows, also known as front rows, allow
captures to be made, while the back rows keep the
counters relatively safe. A move consists of taking the
counters in one of the holes in your row and spreading
them one by one in consecutive holes in an anti-clockwise
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strategy
direction. The minimum number of counters one can
spread is two. If the last counter of that spreading ends
in an empty hole, the move is over. If the last counter
drops into a hole containing stones, then the hole
opposite this hole on the opponent’s side are taken and
used to continue the move in one’s own rows, ie the
captured counters do not leave the board. If the last
counter drops into a hole with counters, but without a
capturing possibility, the counters are taken up and
spread in the same direction until the last counter drops
The bao masters teach us to think fast
and to use our thinking capabilities to the
very end, rather than our thinking time
into an empty hole. The winner has taken all counters or
has made further play impossible for the opponent.
This brief description does not suffice to understand the
intricacies of the game; indeed, there are several different
games that use these rules. It should be clear, though, that
each move involves multiple position changes on the board
and these changes occur frequently (there is often a
minimum of three changes per move and no maximum).
Multiple sowings, continuing for many rounds, are difficult
to calculate. With this simple explanation in mind, we
return to the management situation.
RULES OF MANAGEMENT. The mancala player does not evaluate
positions as chess players do. Players of bao, a specific
mancala version, have fewer possible moves to choose from,
but each and every possibility is considered and calculated
until all the limitations of the player’s mental capabilities
are reached. The bao player evaluates the game as follows:
1) calculating until the player is no longer able to calculate
any further; and 2) trying to understand the opponent’s
plan. The player finds other thinking time a waste.
Beginners are urged to play if they cannot calculate any
further. Why waste time if you have already reached the
limits of your mind? Only if moves are difficult to choose
from is it common to ponder.
This process may not sound particularly advisable.
However, change occurs often and quickly, and speed
appears to be an essential part of the calculating skills. If
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you wish to calculate many rounds of counter-sowing, you
need to think fast in order not to lose count. Speed in
conventional chess is almost absent – it is only built in by
the use of the clock.
As the competitive environment of organisations is
rapidly changing, attitudes toward change – as well as tools
and methods to capture opportunities for change – ought to
be amended accordingly. The global proliferation of
technology, the reorganisation of economic boundaries and
the emergence of new players in markets promise a
turbulent and complex competitive environment. This new
environment calls for organisational designs and practices
that respond to environmental changes swiftly and
promptly. The bao masters teach us to think fast and to use
our thinking capabilities to the very end, rather than our
thinking time. In organisational life, we believe there is
much merit in defining change as a dynamic and ongoing
process, rather than a one-off process. When change is no
longer a project but a process where interventions are
crafted, critical events are evaluated and activities are
reflected upon continually, the ability of organisations to
create change and respond to changing contexts improves.
THE SOUTH AFRICAN SEEDS. The mancala player is used to
fluctuation. The back row provides shelter, but seeds or
stones in the back row have to enter the front row to make
captures and further the game. In chess, many pieces are
captured and few of these are recovered. The promoted
pawn is the exception, rather than the rule. For bao
masters, many captures can become dangerous because
you lose flexibility; the accumulated counters often cannot
make captures if they are stuck on the front row. If your
assets are stuck, your flexibility is lost and you have a
larger risk of being stripped of your wealth. Also, a position
cannot be evaluated by counting the assets you have. In
chess this is already risky, but in bao the number of stones
in your position/possession is not very relevant in the initial
and middle stages of the game. Two moves later the
situation might have reversed, as is frequently the case in
mancala games. Then the number of capturing possibilities
you have is not a reasonable guarantee for the future. In
chess, the captured pieces are taken from the board and
simplify the position, making a majority of assets the more
important objective. Players of most four-row mancala
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games, as opposed to the simpler two-row games, largely
ignore this difference; their winnings are not taken from the
board, but spread in their own rows and may be captured
again at a later stage.
In order for managers to respond effectively to a volatile
environment and deal with fluctuation in the organisational
context, the organisation needs to be able to reallocate
resources quickly and smoothly in response to change. This
requires sensitivity to changes in consumer behaviour,
competitors’ endeavours as well as external political
changes, and requires the active involvement of all
organisational actors, not just management. During the
1990s the interest in the question of how to craft
organisations that thrive in volatile and changing contexts
has been extensive. The important source for
organisational learning is valuing the diversity within
organisations, and South Africans have a great advantage
in this respect, since leaders can weave flexibility into the
organisational fabric when they recognise the potential of
valuing the diversity of perspectives and talents of each
person. Leaders can improve their ability to create and
respond to change when they learn to weave people’s
divergent values, beliefs and backgrounds into strategies
ultimately benefiting the organisation and its shareholders.
Mancala is sometimes played in teams, for instance in a
version known as owela, which is mainly found in Namibia,
Botswana and Mozambique. Owela players use extra-large
boards of four rows of often more than 20 holes. The size of
the board also determines the duration of the game. Team
play appears to have a practical purpose, since moving the
counters around such a board requires more than just
stretching an arm. At the same time it calls for a joint effort
in long-term planning, trying to calculate how the game will
evolve and what repercussions a move could have.
The South African cultural environment, with values
such as participation, responsibility and spiritual authority
– using the word ubuntu – is deeply rooted in African
history. Businesses based in this environment have an
advantage in creating learning organisations. Here leaders
value and nurture individual differences, develop and
empower their people and thereby help create inclusive
and enabling organisational cultures where change is
natural and necessary.
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TOWARDS ANOTHER GAME. Amid high levels of ambiguity,
constant change and increasing demands for speed,
managers need breakthrough approaches to planning and
executing organisational change interventions. The
characteristics of the mancala games provide a much richer
source of metaphors and examples for today’s business
environment than does chess. Although the chess game
serves us well when understanding Western decision-
making traditions, mancala validates the importance and
relevance of actions through which we can test our thinking.
Mancala games provide a rich source of
metaphors and examples for today’s
volatile business environment
Organisations are realising that traditional planning
tools cannot fully withstand the impact of highly turbulent
and volatile environments. Yet solutions can be found that
are congruent with African values and communal practices.
This article is not meant to provide new theories of change
management, but rather to provide a metaphor that can be
used as a source for further understanding of how to create
organisations that thrive in volatile situations, where
changes occur frequently, and where the future and results
of organisations are difficult to calculate.
Even the mancala metaphor may not be all-inclusive.
The game ends quickly compared with the life of
businesses, for instance. But as is common in mancala, the
rules develop and we can simply add holes to our rows,
extend the board to the borders of our world and change the
game as the game, in turn, changes us.
References:
Gobet, F, De Voogt, AJ and Retschitzki, J (2004). Moves in Mind: The Psychology of Board
Games. Hove, UK: Psychology Press.
De Groot, AD (1965). Thought and Choice in Chess. The Hague: Mouton Publishers.
Lakoff, G and Johnson, M (2003). Metaphors we Live By. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Von NeumannJ and Morgenstern, O (1944). Theory of Games and Economic Behaviour.
Princeton: Princeton University Press.
Newell, A and Simon, HA (1972). Human Problem-solving. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.
Townshend, P (1986). Games in Culture: A Contextual Analysis of the Swahili Board Game
and its Relevance to Variation in African Mancala, PhD thesis: University of Cambridge.
De Voogt, AJ (1997). Mancala Board Games. London: British Museum Press.
De Voogt, AJ (2005). A Question of Excellence: A Century of African Masters. Trenton, New
Jersey: African World Press.
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