The Jealous Jester – Leadership Game

“Women are a liability..”

Yes. That’s what a rich, powerful, and senior CEO said to me once. But he is not alone. Another CEO I know has a ‘Only Men’ policy for his company. According to them, women are a liability because –

• They take period leaves
• They take maternity leaves
• They come single and leave as a couple, poaching an employee
• They are more drama and less resourceful
• There is always the risk of false POSH accusations
• Some even want to work while pregnant (who is responsible for the baby!)
• They require a security guard to escort them back home at night

Dear Women,

You are well aware of such discrimination against you. While it is easy to become the devil you are fighting and create an All Women Atlantis, it is far from a sane solution. I understand to be happy and successful a woman needs no man. To have a baby, a woman needs no man. I say the All Women Atlantis is not a sane solution because today even as a single species – Homo Sapiens – we keep fighting, discriminating, and pitting against each other. Then, tomorrow say with advanced technologies like artificial wombs, perhaps we may evolve into two different species – Homalo Sapiens and Femalo Sapiens. But if our thinking doesn’t grow, if we don’t pass on mature thinking to our offspring, the stupid fights will continue. Irrespective of gender, we all know what humans do to their rivals. So what’s the way out?

Well, Dr. Foo says – Watch Emotions!

Yes, emotions are a powerful way to bring about change. The emotion we will use in this activity is, as you can guess – Jealousy. Whenever jealousy arises in you, please take a moment. And watch it carefully. When you watch jealousy, you can notice it is a reminder – a stupid angry reminder though! – of missed opportunities. Sometimes you will notice jealousy to be an angry masculine version of FOMO – Fear Of Missable Opportunities. The more you watch, the more you can relate. With that said, let’s jump into the game.

For this activity,

You will need –

• Paper or notebook
• Pen or pencil
• Timer or stopwatch
• Members or partners from different genders to play with

Now set the timer to five minutes. Dear Women in the group, think about what you envy of men and write it down. Dear Men write about things that women do or can do that make you jealous. Similarly, Dear Non-Binary participants, write down things binary people do or can do that make you jealous.

Once the time’s up, put pens down. Ask each participant to read their thoughts and any one participant can write it down on a whiteboard or in an Excel sheet. Whoever is writing please ensure you write them under three categories – Female, Male, and Non-Binary. As people start reading request each participant to read only their unique points to avoid repetition.

And now comes the fun part. Each gender should try to come up with interesting solutions for the points that the other genders feel jealous about. Each group then nominates their captain who reads out or pitches their solutions to the other group. The other group needs to buy into your solution. The game’s agenda is this – no one leaves the room until there is no jealousy in the room – ‘The Jealous Jester’ leaves as ‘The Jolly Jester’! Just focus on that.

Only after your tried the activity, look at the samples. You can adjust the number of points people need to come up with, based on the time you have for the activity. Here are some sample statements –

Things women envy about men –

1. Pissing Flexibility
2. Clothing with pockets
3. Higher pay for the same skills and work outputs
4. No need to get pregnant
5. No pressure to look good or be nice
6. Old men with white beards are seen as wise, and old women with white hair are seen as witches
7. Most sports and games were invented for and by men
8. Easier and less expensive routines
9. Men can hog on food like hogs
10. History is all about men

Things men envy about women –

1. Women are free to cry
2. Women can freely express their emotions
3. Women have less pressure to be the bread earner
4. Everybody supports women and the law loves women
5. From toe to head, fashion cares only about women
6. Free pub entry, free drinks
7. Women can easily talk or relate to anyone
8. Chivalry always works in favor of women
9. Women can wear pink, floral scents, and panda prints
10. Women are less stressed hence they live longer

Things non-binary people envy about binary –

1. Their family loves them
2. They have more people to talk to
3. They have separate teams, separate bathrooms
4. Fashion cares more for them
5. They can easily act in movies, TV shows, or ads
6. They have a history
7. They have no confusion or clarifications to make on dates
8. People address them properly, with dignity
9. They have better medical and para-medical support
10. They don’t get misidentified, targeted, erased or tokenized

How was the activity? Feel free to share your experience in the comments.

Now, selling imaginary things or concepts in a game can be easy. But can you take the solutions to the real world? To simulate that, instead of jealousy, try the game again tackling conservatism. It takes a Jolly Jester to tackle The Pigheaded Pharoah! Try to come up with areas or topics where the other gender is pigheaded or stubborn to change. Exchange the pointers. And try to come up with attractive solutions that the other will buy into.