150 leaders. One country’s healthcare system. One week to take it to the next level.

Advantage Performance Group, in partnership with thought leader Brent Snow of 10,000 Feet, brings decision-making skill-building to Saudi Arabia

In early May, Brent Snow, founder and creative director at Ten Thousand Feet and a longtime Advantage thought leader partner,  flew to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, to work with 150 leaders. Their job: Transform the healthcare system of an entire country.

Brent wasn't there to lecture. He delivered a keynote on decision-making, then ran a custom experiential simulation built for the specific, high-stakes challenges these leaders face every day.

The stakes are high

Saudi Arabia's Health Sector Transformation Program launched in 2021 as part of the Kingdom's Vision 2030 framework. It's a multi-year effort to rebuild the country's healthcare system from the ground up — shifting toward population health, value-based care, digital innovation, and greater private sector participation. The 150 leaders participating in the Jeddah workshop are driving it.

This opportunity grew out of the successful integration of Decision Mojo and Interplay —experiences that build decision-making skills and business acumen— into a multi-part leadership development program for leaders across a variety of organizations called the Performance Acceleration Journey (PAJ), created by Kimberly Kleiman-Lee, founder and CEO of KKL & Co. Enterprises. Advantage Partner Susan Sehring Sheehy collaborated with Kimberly to introduce the learning experiences, which then became part of the program.

A group of Saudi healthcare leaders were invited to participate in PAJ and see the power of these simulations. After they experienced Decision Mojo firsthand, they wanted the entire leadership team behind the transformation to build the same skills. That request became an invitation to lead a key part of a weeklong working session in Jeddah.

The scenarios they practiced matched real challenges

After the workshop, one physician executive pulled Brent aside. One of the challenging decision scenarios in the simulation, he said, could have been lifted directly from a conversation he'd had with his hospital CEO two weeks earlier.

That's the moment every simulation designer works for, when the people in the room stop seeing an exercise and start seeing their own Monday morning.

His Excellency Fahad bin Abdulrahman AlJalajel, the Minister of Health for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, put the stakes plainly:

"Good decision-making at all levels is going to be critical to the success of this transformation."

Brent shared, "Every once in awhile, we get to do work that has the potential to have societal impact, in this case on the future health and wellness of the 35 million people living in Saudi Arabia."

• Want to know where Advantage is headed next? Follow along on LinkedIn — and keep an eye out for our next "Where in the World" update.
• Related: It's your world: For years, Interplay and Decision Mojo have helped leaders think strategically and make better decisions. Now every experience is built to match your industry, your decisions, your people.
• Contact us or talk to your Advantage partner to learn more about Decision Mojo and Interplay.