Settlers of Catan is a Better Business Game Than Monopoly

Every time I hear someone talking about Monopoly being a game that “teaches you about business,” I can’t help but disagree. While Monopoly a great game with a long history and an instantly recognizable brand, I think Settlers of Catan is a more accurate board game representation of what running a business is really like.

For those of you unfamiliar with Settlers, you can read about it here. While they are both a lot of fun, I tend to prefer Settlers, and here is the reason:

Settlers of Catan has a reduced, more realistic degree of randomness.

In a game of Monopoly, everything you have built can be completely destroyed just by accidentally landing on someone’s triple-hotel properties twice in a row (or even once, in some cases). While there is a fair amount of strategy involved in Monopoly, you accept from the beginning that there is a possibility you can be completely wiped out in 2-3 turns, and you might not be able to do a single thing about it.

While die-rolling is present in Settlers to give it a little uncertainty, the ultimate result of the game is usually not completely changed by a player having a couple of bad turns. You develop a general strategy at the beginning of the game, and hone it to a specific, long-term plan as you gain more resources and make more deals. At most, a few unfortunate rolls will force you to reevaluate your resource-trading strategy in order to make sure you maintain your success.

Monopoly is not a business game. It is a gambling game. This is fun every once in awhile, but it’s just a little grating to hear Monopoly so widely heralded as the “game that teaches you about business.”

I know Settlers of Catan has not proliferated anywhere close to the extent that a game like Monopoly has, but if you ever get the chance, play it with some friends, or on Xbox Live Arcade. It’s a blast, and quite frankly, I think it’s far more realistic from a business point of view.
I’d love to hear the thoughts of those of you who’ve played both. Do you think Monopoly’s higher stakes more accurately portray your own experiences in the business world?

I Work in Retail, or Social Media Makes You As Big As You Want to Be

I work in retail.

There, I said it. I am a sales manager at the store level for a luxury home retail chain. For some reason, I excitedly tell all my friends and family what I do when they ask, but I have been very hesitant to tell complete strangers on a career website what my current industry and position actually are. Why is that?

I really like what I do. I don't plan to do it past the end of college, but it's fun and it's taught me a lot. I make pretty good money for a student. My job gives me a substantial amount of responsibility, but also gives me a lot of flexibility, too. I work a full time schedule, I have good health insurance, 2 weeks of vacation, sick pay, paid holidays and personal days, tuition reimbursement, and all the trappings of a “normal, adult” job. I have one-on-ones with my staff, biweekly management meetings, I complete sales reports and handle payroll adjustments when necessary. I do all of the things that your typical sales manager in most industries does.

So why did I not want to let this piece of my identity get out online for so long? It hit me as I was driving home from work, sipping a watered down Dr. Pepper from a Quik Trip convenience store: Retail makes me feel small. When I am participating in social media, I feel just as big as Kyle Lacy, Holly Hoffman, or Rebecca Thorman; my piece of the conversation is just as important and valued. However, when I contrast my relatively short list of credentials and accomplishments with those of the people I communicate with online, it is easy to feel dwarfed by these Gen Y giants.

As soon as I came to that realization, I was free. Free from tiptoeing around my words to sound “bigger” and “more important” than I am when I blog. Free from my own subjective self-judgment. Because that’s the beautiful part of social media: what you’ve done or haven’t done up to this point doesn’t really matter. What matters is what you are going to do now. And I’ve got big plans. Do you?