Illustration by Ronja Polzin — roevardotter.de/
What is it & Why is it important
- Trading Tactics allows you to practice taking power in conversations. It also trains to you spot power moves, creating space to choose: do I want to follow or resist?
- Communities need to prevent gurus and bullshit artists from undermining their purpose.
- Players practice spotting and dealing with people who want to take social power.
- Early on in community and scene formation, people are passionate and curious about exploring some (often new) values. This fragile state can be interrupted by people who manipulate the group for their own purposes. Whether the usurpers are evil or just lonely and insecure, communities needs to develop immunity or face the prospect of falling apart.
- Trading Tactics is a game to help people name and experiment with ways of taking power
How to use it / The Rules.
There are different ways to gain a position of power/influence within pairs and in a group. Try one out!
Choose a role card from the deck, ideally a character that feels unfamiliar. (See cheat sheet below for roles). Then choose a partner who doesn’t know you well, and decide who starts.
Exploration Version
- Person A engages in casual talk with Person B for 5 minutes. Start out talking about your day, and take it from there. Person A plays the role as described on the card - it's better to overdo it than underdo it. Person B remains their usual self.
- Short Debrief (in this order)
- How would Person B describe the ways in which A gained influence?
- How did A feel playing this role? was the goal of the card attained?
- How did B feel about the space that A took, the power/influence they had? Did they enjoy A’s presence and influence, or did they resist it?
- Change roles and play again for 5 minutes.
- Debrief once more.
- Both partners have now seen their counterpart playing out a character trait that gives them power. Now, for the third and final round, both play their character at the same time for 5 minutes, trying to gain the upper hand. Decide who has won, and why.
Cocktail Party Version
After you've tried a role, play it in a larger group, cocktail party style. Move from one partner to the next, acting out your character card. Focus on how the different styles interact.