The Class Game: An Engaging Approach To Diversity Training

Most people do not understand the incredible power of positive and negative influence in their lives. Their accent, culture, religion, political views and parenting style are determined by their influences. Their favorite food, sports team, hobbies, movies and musical tastes are rooted in their influences. Their success or failure in life is largely determined by the way they influence others. People clearly “do what they do, think the way they think and accomplish what they accomplish because of influence.”

I wrote the book Intelligent Influence: The 4 Steps of Highly Successful Leaders and Organizations to teach readers how to strategically use influence to improve their life and accomplish their goals. My research for this book convinced me that there is a need to create a role play game that would help people develop an appreciation for diversity and understand the power of influence in less than an hour. I therefore created “The Class Game^TM.”

We Are Not “Self-Made”

Western civilization is largely based on the myth of the “Self-Made Man and Woman” in which individuals succeed on their own without anyone’s help. The idea that people who are exceptionally intelligent or hard working can become successful without any help or positive external influence is ridiculous. In my research on influence, I discovered that no human being has ever achieved extraordinary success without the help and influence of many other people.

This is especially true when it comes to the different economic classes in society. People are rich, middle class, poor or homeless largely because of the positive and negative people and events in their lives. Everyone faces challenges in life. The way that people respond to these challenges is largely based on their prior influences. Clearly, some people are born with intellectual and physiological limitations that prevent them from accomplishing things that able bodied people can. However, everyone else was born an average person into either the rich, middle class, poor or homeless class. The class they are in later in life is determined by their unique influences.

Feeling Superior

I have discovered that there are many people who feel that their success in life is due exclusively to their personal efforts. They refuse to believe that they are rich or middle class because of the exceptionally positive influences in their life. Many of them even “look down” on people in lower economic classes because they consider them lazy, stupid or an embarrassment to society. I created a unique role play game called “The Class Game” to help participants “feel” how their influences determine what economic class they currently find themselves in today. The game helps people become better leaders by developing a deeper understanding of themselves and others.

The Class Game

The goal of The Class Game (which takes less than an hour to play) is to have a positive net income and stay out of jail. We begin the game by asking groups of four or more participants to count out “one (1), two (2), three (3) or four (4)” and join their respective group in one of the four corners of the room. We then tell them that they are each born into a particular economic class. People in Group 1 were born “Rich”, Group 2 members were born “Middle Class”, Group 3 members were born “Poor”, and, Group 4 members were born “Homeless.” This random grouping mirrors real life where people are arbitrarily born into the four different classes.

We then hand out a sheet with the same ten questions that we call the “Test of Life^TM.” Once they have all received the questions, we hand out answer sheets to each group and tell the participants that correct answers to questions 1-5 are each worth $10,000, correctly answering question 6 is worth $100,000, and, correct answers to questions 7-10 are worth $400,000 each. We give them just 5 minutes to answer the questions (since they have answer sheets) and then read off each of the 10 correct answers. Participants are asked to total their income and subtract the figure for taxes, expenses and child support that we give them and report their scores. If their net income is below $0 they go to jail.

It is amazing how the net income of the individuals in different groups is the same in every game that we play. The “Rich” Group averages a net income of $800,000; the “Middle Class” Group averages a net income of $100,000; the “Poor Group” averages a net income of -$20,000; and, the “Homeless” Group averages a net income of -$40,000. This is amazing since people were assigned to groups randomly. The “Rich” and the “Middle Class” always win the game and stay out of jail and the “Poor” and “Homeless” always lose the game and go to jail.

The value of the game comes from the discussion after it is over. Some participants are angry that they lost the game because they were “born” into the wrong group. Others admit that they never fully understood that a person’s success in life is based on the quality of their influences. They were not aware how hard it is break out of the “Class” group that a person was born into. The game focuses on economic disparities but teaches participants about appreciating people who are different because of their age, gender, race, religious beliefs or sexual preferences. Virtually, everyone who participates in the game admits that it has given them greater empathy for others and a deeper appreciation for the advantages that they have in life.

Can the Game Help Your Organization?

Utilizing The Class Game training has proven to be a powerful way to help people develop a deeper understanding of themselves and others. In corporations, the game has helped to increase engagement, sensitivity to diversity and leadership skills by giving people the tools and insights necessary to work more effectively with their boss, co-workers, subordinates and clients. In addition, this game is an effective tool for increasing the sensitivity and community effectiveness of nonprofit staff, law enforcement, teachers, religious institution congregations and government leaders.

This leadership and diversity training is more important than ever because of the growing generational, economic, cultural, gender, racial and sexual orientation diversity in every part of society. If you would like more information about using The Class Game Training in your organization, please contact Dr. Dale G. Caldwell at (732) 208-9808 or at DrDGCaldwell@gmail.com. Please note that we will do everything we can to design a customized game for your organization that fits within your organization's budget.