Game development teams face unique pressures: tight production cycles, cross-functional complexity, and the aftermath of industry-wide restructuring. Leaders need practical ways to rebuild trust, clarify roles, and help people understand how they uniquely contribute to team success.
Mattering Lab specializes in exactly that. We leverage CliftonStrengths™, Gallup’s research-backed framework for talent development, to help game development teams build the psychological safety, clarity, and collaboration that make great work, and great games, possible.
mike knox, Founder, Trainer, & Coach
It’s dangerous to go alone…
Take this…
NEW GAME: BUILD FOUNDATIONS
Three core programs that build on each other. Start where your team is at, then level up.
Level 1:
Strengths Foundations
$5,000
2 HOURS
An introduction to strengths-based development.
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Understand each person’s talent profile and how it shapes the team
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Apply strengths immediately to daily collaboration
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Build a shared language that cuts friction and adds clarity
Includes 10 CliftonStrengths™ 34 Report assessments + 2 coaching sessions
Level 2 · MOST POPULAR
Team Alignment
$9,500
HALF DAY · 2 HOURS
An immersive experience that deepens the foundations
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Reveal team-wide strengths patterns, superpowers, and blind spots
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Practice strengths-based collaboration on real challenges
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Set norms that speed decisions and strengthen accountability
Includes 10 CliftonStrengths™ 34 Report assessments + 4 coaching sessions
Level 3:
Applied Leadership
$18,000
FULL DAY · 8 HOURS
Strengths plus high-impact leadership modules, chosen for your team’s biggest challenges:
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Change Readiness
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Psychological Safety
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Coaching & Feedback
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Team Engagement & Motivation
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Inclusive Leadership
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Communication
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Trust
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And more
Includes 10 CliftonStrengths™ 34 Report assessments + 8 coaching sessions
*Additional assessments: $60/person | Additional coaching: $500/session
NEW GAME+: GO DEEPER
Set the foundations first or jump straight to these options to sustain the change, embed it in real workflows, and develop your leaders one-on-one.
Custom solutions: every offering can be tailored to your team’s size, challenges, and goals, including in-person or virtual delivery, extended coaching for key leaders, and integration with your production cycles
Multi-Day Retreats
FROM $25,500
1.5 DAYS · 12 HOURS to 3 DAYS · 24 HOURS
Custom-designed, immersive experiences that reset team dynamics, rebuild trust, and accelerate alignment away from daily distractions.
| 1.5 days | from $25,500 | |
| 2 days | MOST POPULAR | from $32,000 |
| 3 days | from $45,000 |
Includes 10 CliftonStrengths™ 34 Report assessments + up to 10 individual coaching sessions (before and/or after the retreat) to deepen integration and sustain momentum.
*In-person only. Travel and venue logistics managed by client.
Learning Journeys
FROM $35,000
3 MONTHS · 6 MONTHS · 9 MONTHS · 12 MONTHS
Sustained development that embeds strengths-based leadership into real workflows, team rhythms, and production cycles through custom workshops, one-one-one coaching, and real world application.
| 3 months | from $35,500 | |
| 6 months | from $65,000 | |
| 9 months | from $90,000 | |
| 12 months | from $110,000 |
Includes custom design, progress measurement, ongoing adaptation, and 10 CliftonStrengths™ 34 Report assessments. All Learning Journeys incorporate coaching support, typically monthly group sessions plus individual coaching touchpoints. Exact structure designed collaboratively based on team size, journey length, and development goals.
ASSESSMENTS
Every development journey starts with understanding where you are. These research-backed assessments provide the foundation for targeted growth and help teams build a shared language for collaboration.
CliftonStrengths™ Assessment & 34 Report
$60 per person
Gallup’s CliftonStrengths™ assessment reveals each person’s top talents across 34 themes, revealing and providing common language for the natural ways they think, feel, and behave. It’s the foundation for everything we do together.
What’s included:
- Individual Top 34 theme sequence
- Personalized Strengths Insight Report
- Access to Gallup’s digital resources and learning tools
With any workshop, retreat, or learning journey: 10 assessments included
Additional assessments: $60 per person (Gallup’s rate—we handle all logistics)
S.A.F.E.T.Y™ Assessment
$70 per person
The S.A.F.E.T.Y.™ Assessment (Academy of Brain-based Leadership) measures psychological safety and team dynamics through a neuroscience lens. It helps teams understand how their environment supports or inhibits trust, collaboration, and performance.
Best for teams focused on:
- Rebuilding trust after organizational change
- Strengthening psychological safety
- Understanding team dynamics at a neurological level
- Complementing strengths work with brain-based insights
Available as a standalone assessment or integrated into custom learning journeys and retreats. (The Academy of Brain-based Leadership’s rate—we handle all logistics)
OUR CLIENTS
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Social Impact
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Gamers for CHOC is an industry-specific initiative to raise funds for Rady Children’s Health Orange County. To date, Gamers for CHOC has brought together more than 50 organizations in gaming to raise over $700,000, more than $70,000 of which was raised by Mattering Lab through a project our founder, mike knox, calls Chalk for CHOC. Give to CHOC here. From February 1 through July 31 every year 10% of all Mattering Lab proceeds will be donated to Rady Children’s Health Orange County through Gamers for CHOC.
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Women in Games International (WIGI) is a 501c3 nonprofit organization that champions a safe, inclusive, and diverse workforce in the video game, tabletop, and esports industries with equal access and opportunities for all. Mattering Lab supports WIGI with direct donations as well as pro bono training sessions for the WIGI Mentorship Program. Give to WIGI here. From August 1 through January 31 every year 10% of all Mattering Lab proceeds will be donated to WIGI. |
CONTACT
Email us at info[at]matteringlab.com
For more detailed information on Mattering Lab training and coaching options, download the Mattering Lab Overview