Jacobs, Kaitlin

February 12, 2022

Planet Jockey Journal #5

1. Copy and paste (or screenshot) your Level overview and scores. You can find this
information again in your Overview & Profile.

2. Reflect on the scenarios presented in the game. Was there anything you found
particularly difficult? Anything that surprised you?

Something I found particularly interesting was when I had to decide whether or not to praise an
initiative that, while effective in approach was hindered by the use of language associated with
it (IE Games). While I knew the right answer was to hold off on praising him until we could talk
about adjusting the associated langue he used I began to play devil’s advocate with myself. On
one hand it’s true that campaigns of these type should use language that is bold and moving.
Language that paints a picture and is descriptive and distinctive (Johnson & Hackman, 2018, pg.
304). On the other hand you have to be careful because using obscene or inappropriate
language can not only distract from the message but also damage the speakers image (Johnson
& Hackman, 2018, pg.304). As effective as the campaign might be, even if we kept the name,
the message it sends does not accurately represent our company. Ultimately the speaker in this
scenario is our company, not the employee who wrote it and our credibility as a people focused
company is severely undermined if we name a sales initiative “Gut the wolf, take no prisoners”
(IE Games). While there are certain places and situations where I find such bold language to be
useful, it happens to go against our company’s ambition statement in this instance and
therefore is not appropriate.

3. Explain how something you learned in the game connects to something you learned
from the text.

I find it really interesting that I mentioned in one of my annotations that I sometimes

question where the line gets drawn when it comes to transparency and ethics. I will
admit, even after reading the chapter I still had some questions on this. However,
playing this week’s course in IE games finally helped it all click for me. This week we
were tasked with making important decisions that tested our ethics, transparency, and
our ability to think on our feed in times of uncertainty or crisis. We were about to send
an email out to our followers where we addressed previous mistakes we made and how
we triumphed over them. Some people in my management structure felt that we should
simply “move on” from our shortcomings and that they do not need to be addressed (IE
Games). The reason this particular scenario sparked a better understanding of ‘the line’
I speak of is because it highlighted the poor leadership skills I was introduced to in my
past that I begrudgingly held onto as a foundation during my learnings this semester.
For a majority of my life thus far I was a follower under leaders who did not value
transparency. I specifically remember being told in school by my teachers that I
shouldn’t question things the way I do because they “make the big bucks” and my job as
a student is to blindly trust them. The same goes for my professional career. In our very
first planet jockey journal I related the concepts that I learned in the game to a situation
with my management team where I began to get exceedingly frustrated over a lack of
credibility culminating in our followers following misrepresentation of their expectations
with little acknowledgement towards the mistake from the rest of my management
team. I have essentially always been told that it is not necessary for me to be informed
and that I should leave the decision making process to those above me. I instinctually
knew that the right answer in this scenario was not to amend the email, and that’s when
it hit me. When it comes to ethics and transparency I draw the line, no one else draws it
for me. One thing that stood out to me is the idea that poor leaders can sometimes use
or withhold information for personal benefits and that responsible leaders take
accountability for the performance of the group as a whole (Johnson & Hackman, 2018,
pg.364). In this particular scenario there is no way that I can expect my followers to take
responsibility in their own jobs without I, myself taking responsibility in my own
shortcomings. Moreover highlighting the obstacles we face and how we overcome them
can help to eliminate fear from my followers in the face of crisis. I have spent so much
time thinking that I am not a leader in my own right because I did not fit the descriptions
of the leaders I have followed under and I am beginning to understand that I can be
whatever type of leader I want to be and the fact that I am not exactly like them is
 probably a good thing. This was a great opportunity for me to make a stand and draw
my own line and I am very proud of my decision not to amend the email.

4. How could you use the concepts discussed in this simulation in your job today? Give
an example of a situation you've been in where you could use a concept from the
simulation.

As a company our leadership team needs to do better at being transparent. As a restaurant we

naturally face a lot of day to day operational obstacles stemming from attendance issues,
staffing pars and people being put in unfit job codes. In particular we often times have to ‘pull’
employees from one job code to another without much notice or reasoning in order to fill a
hole. Most of the employees do not love this practice because they don’t seem to understand
what is expected of them and feel like their job duties can change and any moment. Especially a
waitress who is dependent on tip money being asked to fill in for a missing host on a Friday
night. My old store was very transparent in the sense that looked at us as Roadies, not hosts,
not bussers, not waiters or waitresses. They set the expectation that we are team members
first and helping each other out is the only way to ensure the success of the restaurant. For this
particular situation I offer two means of correction:
1. It is extremely necessary that we, as management, accurately and effectively convey
the expectations of our team members to them. It’s also important that we stick to
those goals and expectations. If for any reason we cannot we need to be upfront and
honest with them about why things are changing for them in that particular scenario
and be mindful of how we chose to exert power over our employees expectations
(Johnson & Hackman, 2018, pg.366). If we continually exert power to make
employees shift outside their understood goals and expectations they will not only
begin to regard us as uncredible but we also run the chance of falling into corrupt
uses of power for personal benefit in the name of the store (Johnson & Hackman,
2018, pg.366).
2. When we, as managers and leaders, are put in situations of crisis where we are
forced to make decisions outside of our initial expectations it is imperative that we
give rational to these kids. We can accurately inform them that they can be expected
to be pulled at any given time but when such a scenario arises it’s not enough to
simply refer back to that ‘talk’ we had where we told them this would happen. In
order to take responsibility we as management need to explain to them what
happened and why we are moving them. During level 5 we had to pull an initiative
name due to obscene language (IE Games). The initiative itself was extremely
successful and without proper insight the employee would likely begin to doubt his
work on the initiative as a whole rather than attributing the pull to his acute choice
of words in naming the initiative. The same is true at my job. These kids need to
understand that we are not pulling them as a punishment but rather that we are a
team, we made a mistake and they are most competent people to help us fix it
EI Games (2021). Planet Jockey: Level 1 How to Create a High-Performing Team. [Online File].
Retrieved from https://play.eigames.com/game/10#/level/38.
Johnson, C. E. & Hackman, M. Z. (2018, January). Leadership: A Communication Perspective
7th
Edition. Accessed via Perusall.com.