Former Facebook employee Sarah Wynn-Williams has released a memoir detailing an incident in which Meta employees allowed CEO Mark Zuckerberg to win the board game Settlers of Catan. Her former colleague, who was also there, denied the claim, but the incident has sparked a debate about the risks to employees of playing games with their bosses.
Former Facebook employee Sarah Wynn-Williams has released a memoir detailing an incident in which Meta employees allowed CEO Mark Zuckerberg to win the board game Settlers of Catan. Her former colleague, who was also there, denied the claim, but the incident has sparked a debate about the risks to employees of playing games with their bosses.
«Everyone was very engrossed, despite the sheer tedium of it all, building their own little empires and negotiating strategies. But as the night wore on, it became increasingly apparent that people were letting Mark win,» Wynne-Williams wrote of the game.
At one point, she said, she shouted out a «particularly outrageous» move, and other players glared at her. When she asked Zuckerberg if he really wanted to win that way, he looked «bewildered.»
Another participant in the game, Hunter-Torrick, claims that this game of Settlers of Catan went completely differently. He said he planned to eliminate the weaker players so that he could then take on Zuckerberg, «who was the strongest player». But then something «more interesting» happened.
«Zuckerberg said he was tired and wanted to sleep, and convinced others to join me so he could win! This is actually a much better story that shows his ruthlessness», — Hunter-Torrick wrote.
This is according to a Business Insider article that spoke to IT professionals. In particular, Elizabeth Hines, who recently took on a new role as an HR manager, said that her new boss uses table tennis to communicate and share business details with employees.
«After I beat him a few times, he wouldn’t invite me to play anymore,» says Hines. She said her boss started talking to her less during the day, and recently they haven’t spoken at all for a week.
«I hope it’s a coincidence, and it’s temporary, but I definitely want to ask him about it later because it really bothers me», — HR admitted.
Jenn Whitmer, a leadership coach and speaker from the US, said that she had had to defeat bosses at games before.
«Healthy people, even the competitive ones, take it easy. Toxic, unhealthy people become like babies. How you lose reveals your character,» she said. Whitmer described an instance when her, then-boss, «shut down» and became «sullen and gloomy» after losing a game.
Joaquin Paolo Arellano, a Toronto-based freelancer who has worked in customer success roles for over a decade, said he once beat his boss at a basketball game—and he took it well.
According to him, it also had a positive impact on his career, «maybe because he started to treat me better.»
Joe Galvin, director of research at Vistage, an executive coaching organization, believes that leaders who don’t take defeat well don’t contribute to a healthy work environment.
«The best leaders understand that success is not always about winning, but about creating an environment in which employees feel challenged, engaged, and motivated to perform at their best,» says Galvin.
He added that a leader’s ability to cope with defeat «can also have a significant impact on employee engagement, company culture and, ultimately, retention».
Hayley Lewis, a fellow of the British Psychological Society who specializes in leadership and management, said people make judgments about whether it is «safe» to be competitive.
«We make these judgements based on the data we have around us. What do I see other people doing in the organization? What kind of vibe do I get from my boss? Would I be more accepting if I just let it go and let the boss win?», — Lewis said.
In her opinion, every employee whose boss gets upset after a loss should reflect on how bad his reaction was.
If his reaction was abusive, Lewis says it’s time to reach out to HR. If your boss is just a little angry, she suggests treating the incident as a lesson: «The next time we all go to work as a team and someone wants to play a game, I know I’m not going to win».
It was previously reported that Meta has internal blacklists of employees who are ineligible for re-employment. Former company managers say that it is almost impossible to remove an employee from the list, and that an employee may end up there simply because the manager did not like them.
