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Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minuteDriver Scan →Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problemsFix Now →Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitchesFind Drivers →A card exercise taught veterinarian Paige Andersen, DVM, to ask a better question when a colleague seems out of step: are they playing the wrong game, or just following different rules? Her reflection offers a practical lesson for veterinary leaders integrating people from different workplaces: understand their assumptions, then build shared expectations through communication, training, and respectful accountability.
The card game that revealed different workplace rules
At an AAHA Conference in San Diego several years before her May 2026 article, Andersen took part in a card exercise. Participants started in groups, each with a deck of cards and a rules sheet. After a few rounds, winners moved to newly mixed groups. The next round turned quiet and tense until someone asked, “What are you doing?” The groups then realized they had been given different, incompatible rules.
The game was designed to make a familiar workplace problem visible. People can share a profession yet bring different protocols, habits, and expectations from previous environments. As Andersen puts it, “We are all practicing veterinary medicine together, but we’ve each been shaped by different environments and systems.”
Why a mismatch can look like poor performance
A new colleague may be capable and experienced but unfamiliar with how a particular practice handles a task, communicates a concern, or divides responsibilities. If the team treats its own routines as obvious, a difference in approach can be mistaken for carelessness or lack of skill.
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Andersen’s question—“are they playing the wrong game, or just by different rules?”—is a prompt to ask what someone has learned before deciding what their actions mean. It does not excuse every mistake or explain every performance problem. It helps leaders check for a mismatch in expectations before reaching a conclusion.
What the lesson means for veterinary teams
Make unwritten procedures explicit
When someone joins or teams combine, explain not only what the practice expects but also how its routines work in daily situations. Invite questions about differences from a colleague’s previous workplace rather than assuming everyone uses the same approach.
Rank #2
- PLAY WITH A DIFFERENT HARMONY EVERY ROUND - The harmony determines how many suits must be played in the trick—not being able to is considered “off-harmony,” making that player ineligible for points.
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Allow time for alignment
Andersen connects the exercise to her practice’s expansion to a second location earlier in 2026. In her account, integrating teams takes time and intentional communication: people need opportunities to meet one another where they are, align around the mission and procedures, and work through the transition.
Pair support with clear expectations
Her closing advice is to support colleagues through training, set realistic goals, and hold one another accountable respectfully. That combination gives team members help as they learn shared procedures while keeping responsibilities clear.
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Rank #3
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What the exercise does—and does not—establish
Andersen presents the card game as a leadership reflection, not a formal assessment. Her account reports no measured outcome or statistic showing that the exercise improves onboarding or team performance. The source also does not name the game, provide its rules, or identify the type of deck; it says only that each group received cards and a rules sheet.
For the original account, see Paige Andersen’s article for AAHA, published May 12, 2026.
Quick Recap
Best Value
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Rank #4
- How to Play: Doomlings is a fun, strategic, fast-paced card game where you and your friends compete as Doomlings species for dominance on a distant planet! Play cards with unique traits and abilities to build your species and survive the end of the world
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