TY  - CONF
TI  - Sync or Sink: a simulation to expose variation, mitigate impacts, and improve flow
C1  - Singapore, Singapore
C3  - Proceedings of the 34th Annual Conference of the International Group for Lean Construction (IGLC 34)
SP  - 680
EP  - 691
PY  - 2026
DO  - 10.24928/2026/0138
AU  - Sobh, Dana
AU  - Desmarais, Dominic
AU  - Budiab, Ryan
AU  - Russell, Jason
AU  - Hamzeh, Farook
AD  - PhD Student, Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada, dsobh@ualberta.ca, orcid.org/0009-0004-2609-054X
AD  - PhD Student, Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada, ddesmar1@ualberta.ca, orcid.org/0009-0002-0506-5041
AD  - MEng Student, Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada, budiab@ualberta.ca
AD  - MSc Student, Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada, jcrussel@ualberta.ca, orcid.org/0009-0007-7030-8384
AD  - Professor, Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada, hamzeh@ualberta.ca, orcid.org/0000-0002-3986-9534
ED  - Hamzeh, Farook
ED  - Poshdar, Mani
ED  - Garcia-Lopez,, Nelly P.
AB  - Games and simulations, with their immersive learning and tactical dimensions, have long been used across many industries to help people shake their biases and make connections between traditional practices and novel ideas. The lean construction community has been active in creating new games and simulations to explain its paradigm to students and practitioners. This paper presents a new game called “Sync or Sink™,” created to support participants' experience when learning the impacts of variation on workflow and project production systems. The game highlights potential sources of variation on projects through narratives and anecdotes and supports meaningful engagement with their peers while respecting their humanity. A preliminary pilot study (n = 7) of the game was conducted with participants followed by a post-game survey. The survey supported the claim that the game was engaging and resonated with real-life experiences. The participants reported that the game helped illustrate the source and impact of variability in workflows and the benefits of collaboration to attenuate its impact. The paper presents the initial version of Sync or Sink™ and establishes the foundation for a new lean simulation game that supports experiential learning.
KW  - Simulation
KW  - serious game
KW  - flow
KW  - variation
KW  - collaboration.
PB  - 
T2  - Proceedings of the 34th Annual Conference of the International Group for Lean Construction (IGLC 34)
DA  - 2026/06/22
CY  - Singapore, Singapore
L1  - http://iglc.net/Papers/Details/2460/pdf
L2  - http://iglc.net/Papers/Details/2460
N1  - Export Date: 19 June 2026
DB  - IGLC.net
DP  - IGLC
LA  - English
ER  -