The Culture Game: Traitors in the Team
A team-building experience exploring what strengthens or weakens organizational performance.
It is interesting how we sometimes by our behaviours undermine the things that we collectively are trying to accomplish. The game is meant to be light hearted (not cheating and lying) but instead explore which actions help or hinder, support or frustrate the people, process, performance and progress. A game that examines and discusses these issues openly (with the psychological safety that comes from a game) may be useful to thinking about them an means to adddress them. Not everyone will agree, but sometimes play provides the best learning.
Workshop Objective
To experience how hidden behaviors, misalignment, and lack of communication impact team culture and outcomes.
To surface what enables and what hinders team performance.
To build shared understanding of how to create psychological safety, transparency, and collaborative norms.
STRUCTURE (Under 4 Hours)
00:00–00:15 – Introduction & Setup
Welcome, set ground rules for psychological safety.
Explain theme: Inspired by The Traitors*, this is a fictional scenario to explore real-world teamwork dynamics.
Divide group into 2–4 teams of 4–6 people.
Secretly assign Traitors (1 per team, or 2 across all teams depending on group size). Traitors are given a mission: subtly hinder progress without being obvious.
00:15–01:00 – Task 1: “The Chain of Trust”
Activity: A problem-solving or process design task (e.g. assemble a prototype, design a basic workflow, or complete a team puzzle in a time limit).
Purpose:
Observe how people collaborate, lead, contribute—or undermine.
Watch how communication and trust flow.
Facilitator Notes:
The Traitor’s job is to slow the process subtly (misdirect, delay consensus, overcomplicate).
Debrief: What helped the team succeed or fail? Did they notice any strange behaviors? What could have made communication better?
01:00–01:45 – Task 2: “Cultural Values Auction”
Activity: Teams are given “culture coins” and must bid on organizational values (e.g. transparency, innovation, accountability, flexibility, loyalty). They must choose 5 and justify how these help their team succeed.
Twist: Traitors are told to argue for misaligned values (e.g. promote excessive hierarchy, risk-aversion, or silence).
Purpose:
Forces discussion about what cultural elements matter—and why.
Encourages reflection on misalignment.
Debrief:
Did the group agree easily or struggle?
Were some people more persuasive? Why?
What values actually align with our current or desired team culture?
01:45–02:15 – Round Table Elimination
Activity: Open discussion and then vote: Who do you suspect is a Traitor? Each team or the whole group votes. Traitors reveal themselves.
Debrief:
Were you surprised?
What clues were missed or misinterpreted?
How does this relate to real organizational culture—where dysfunction may go unnoticed?
02:15–03:30 – Group Reflection & Application
Guided questions:
1. What behaviors help us perform well as a team?
2. What hinders performance—even unintentionally?
3. What are the “silent saboteurs” in our real workplace? (e.g. unclear roles, lack of feedback, fear of conflict)
4. How do we deal with difficult team dynamics when they’re not obvious?
5. How can we surface misalignment without blame?
Optional Outputs:
A team charter or list of cultural commitments
Group creation of a “Code of Trust”
Culture radar (what we want more of / less of)
Key Themes You’ll Explore
Psychological safety vs. fear
Trust and betrayal (real or perceived)
Communication styles and groupthink
Values alignment and behavioral norms
Individual vs. collective responsibility
Materials Needed
Envelopes with role cards (Faithful / Traitor)
Task supplies (puzzle pieces, flipcharts, fake coins, printed value cards)
Voting cards or slips
Reflection worksheet / template
Group Size Recommendation
8 to 24 participants
Works best with 2–4 mixed teams
Optional: Have observers or rotating facilitators who report insights