Play the Prepper Priorities Game
Dr. John Woods 04.20.19
The next time your prepper group, deer camp, or prepper poker playing gang gets together, pose them with playing a survival priority game. It is simple to do. You make up a master sheet that has ten critical items or tasks listed for each player rank in an order of survival priority. Then tally all the sheets on a white board or chart and let the fun begin.
Many of you have probably played such games in management or leadership training courses at work or with civic organizations. One such similar popular learning game is the deserted island survival game where the shipwrecked passengers have to prioritize a number of pieces of recovered gear and decide on what jobs have to be done in an order of importance. Same principle with a survival prepper game.
The whole idea of playing such a game of course is to initiate a discourse about discussing the many issues surrounding prepping for and surviving a SHTF. If you actually have a designated neighborhood prepper group or a family with friends to work with, then such a game can hopefully turn into a meaningful training exercise.
A word of caution though, people are people, and when different personalities are put to the test to work out a plan of any kind, opinions can get heated. Somebody will have to be in charge of moderating the session working to always keep it on track and beneficial. If tempers should happen to flare up, then that is a good learning lesson, too, pointing out this is just what could happen during a real aftermath survival situation. Make them realize exactly that.
Undoubtedly you may end up learning a lot of things about your team members that you may not have known before. That can be a really good thing if the information is used appropriately. Maybe some will reveal their hidden talents or skills that can be put to good use during an actual SHTF event. It could be that someone or multiple people will step up to volunteer to take charge of specific areas of responsibility such as security, food prep, medical issues, supply gathering, mechanics, building and repairs, or whatever.
Hand out the pre-printed sheets and just tell the members to number them from 1-10 in order of their perception of the most important priorities. Work out areas of agreement and discuss where opinions differ. The whole idea is to gel teamwork with the goal of everyone surviving.
