{"product_id":"9783032287335","title":"The LARP Effect Creating Connection and Competitive Advantage Through Story, Ritual, and Roleplay","description":"\u003ch3\u003eManagement for Professionals\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003ch1\u003eThe LARP Effect\u003c\/h1\u003e\u003ch2\u003eCreating Connection and Competitive Advantage Through Story, Ritual, and Roleplay\u003c\/h2\u003e\u003ch3\u003eStephen R Balzac\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\u003cb\u003eBusiness \u0026amp; Economics \/ Human Resources \u0026amp; Personnel Management\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis book demonstrates how live action roleplay (LARP) and immersive scenario‑based training are powerful tools for building high-performing organizations, and establishing competitive advantage. Drawing on organizational psychology and experiential learning, it explains how work itself functions as a socially constructed “game” shaped by goals, roles, and culture—and how intentionally redesigning these elements can shift team dynamics quickly and sustainably. Through practical examples and research‑backed methods, the book demonstrates how storytelling, shared narratives, and structured roleplay build trust, accelerate team development, and strengthen decision‑making under pressure. It tackles common organizational challenges from conflict resolution and emotional safety to leadership identity, goal alignment, and crisis rehearsal, illustrating how immersive techniques compress months of team learning into hours.\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eOffering a toolkit of evidence-based and experiential practices, this book equips managers, HR professionals, and consultants as well as scholars, academics, and students with innovative approaches for driving engagement, resilience, and cohesive performance across teams and organizations.\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003ePraise for \u003c\/em\u003eThe LARP Effect\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e“\u003cem\u003eWatching this work evolve has been a reminder of what meaningful scholarship can be: rigorous, imaginative, and unapologetically useful. This book does not ask readers to adopt a framework, it invites them to step inside a system and see themselves clearly. That is where real learning begins\u003c\/em\u003e.” -- Rosanne Roberts, PhD, Research Liaison, ORS, Capella University\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\"\u003cem\u003eThe danger of our modern society is the stripping of stories into abstractions like data, metrics, and models. Despite its best attempts, modernity does not strip stories, so much as disenchant them and render them invisible to us...\u003c\/em\u003eThe LARP Effect\u003cem\u003e shows us how to glimpse the magic of our every day. Though LARP games and their decisions may be fictional, our actual experience of them grants us perspective on the stories we already live and share with one another, in work, life or any other context.” -- \u003c\/em\u003eDavid Yu, Summer Program for Applied Rationality and Cognition (SPARC)\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\"\u003cem\u003eOne of the most experienced designers in the world, Balzac brings over 40 years of organizational knowledge and storytelling to the business world, reteaching us how to play the game.\u003c\/em\u003e” -- Ryan Hart, Creative Director, Sinking Ship Creations (Blooloop's Top 50 Immersive Influencer)\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\"\u003cem\u003eThis book reframes leadership in a way that actually sticks. Work is a game of sorts, and this book shows how to design it, so people engage, decide, and perform better. It's practical. It's memorable. And it gets to how organizations really work\u003c\/em\u003e.\" — Sid Probstein, CEO, SWIRL\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\"...[Steve's] \u003cspan style=\"font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%; font-family: 'Calibri',sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA;\"\u003e\u003cem\u003eability to capture the essence of a problem and translate it into real world action but in a non-threatening play environment is astounding\u003c\/em\u003e...\u003cem\u003ethis book offers \u003c\/em\u003ethe \u003cem\u003eblueprint for transforming your organizational culture through shared, living stories\u003c\/em\u003e.\"--Ronald Espinosa, Director, Google Category, Softchoice, Inc\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%; font-family: 'Calibri',sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA;\"\u003e\"\u003cem\u003eDr. Balzac masterfully blends conceptual innovation, clear and engaging prose, intellectual depth, and practical business insights. His unique LARP approach significantly strengthens team unity, boosts productivity, and enhances ongoing team effectiveness.\u003c\/em\u003e” -- Eric Bloom, Executive Director, IT Management and Leadership Institute\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eStephen R. Balzac \u003c\/strong\u003eis a consultant, author, and speaker. He is the president of 7 Steps Ahead (www.7stepshead.com), an organizational development firm focused on helping businesses get unstuck and turn problems into opportunities. He has been designing and running live action roleplaying (LARP) games for over 30 years and used LARP in his business consulting practice. His dissertation research explored the connections between LARP games and leadership development, decision-making, and working with a group. Prior to this research, he has published two books on organizational development, \u003cem\u003eThe McGraw-Hill 36-Hour Course: Organizational Development\u003c\/em\u003e (2010) and \u003cem\u003eOrganizational Psychology of Managers\u003c\/em\u003e (Springer 2014).\u003c\/p\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ctable\u003e\n\u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003ePublication Date: \u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003e24 July 2026\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n\u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003ePublisher: \u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003eSpringer Nature Switzerland\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n\u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003eImprint: \u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003eSpringer\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n\u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003eISBN-13: \u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003e9783032287335\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n\u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003eFormat: \u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003eHardback\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n\u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003ePage Count: \u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003e202\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n\u003c\/table\u003e","brand":"Springer Nature Switzerland","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":49472488210572,"sku":"9783032287335","price":89.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0710\/9545\/1788\/files\/9783032287335.jpg?v=1781058323","url":"https:\/\/fh90cf-fv.myshopify.com\/products\/9783032287335","provider":"Late Knight Books and Services, LLC","version":"1.0","type":"link"}