Preparing for uncertainty: Using Tinker Toys Exercise to Teach Dynamic Capabilities and Casual Ambiguity

Dynamic capabilities and causal ambiguity are central to understanding organizational adaptation under uncertainty but are difficult to teach through lectures or case studies. This paper presents a short experiential learning activity that uses the Tinker Toys materials from Coff and Hatfield’s (2003) exercise differently to support learning through action rather than retrospective analysis. The activity gives students direct experience of sensing, seizing, and transforming under incomplete information, while highlighting causal ambiguity and the limits of prediction. The exercise is easy to implement and offers instructors a practical way to prepare students to engage with complexity and uncertainty in management education.