Playing the long game: What The Traitors teaches us about office management
From split motivation to short-term thinking, the pitfalls of The Traitors are the same as the office, writes Claudine Collins
Across the nation, living rooms, pubs and offices are full of chatter about BBC’s fan favourite show, The Traitors. And while employers might be concerned that the first 10 minutes of every meeting are devoted to fan-girling Linda or analysing where the faithfuls are going wrong, they need not worry. Because The Traitors is choc-a-bloc with lessons that business leaders would do well to learn from. Last year, I wrote in this paper about how Diane’s sharp insights and problem-solving capabilities flew in the face of stereotypes around older workers. But the learning doesn’t end there.
From how to manage teams to the need for robust information, the consequences of high pressure on a group of people working towards a goal sounds to me like the workplace. Though The Traitors is a highly dramatic magnifier of this type of pressure, it’s worth using that lens to understand the nuances that happen in a business environment.
Gut instinct belongs in the gutter
That is to say: sometimes our gut feeling about a situation might be informed by existing biases, or incorrect data. Business decisions need to be made with the right data and insights backing them. Working in advertising, I know the importance of positioning data and insights first and foremost; we use them to discover new audiences for brands or find new ways to connect with people.
The faithfuls are a wonderful case study of working without data, or in fact working with the wrong data. Without the insights needed to make a decision – of course a deliberate ploy to make interesting television – they leap on what may seem to the viewer (who knows more than them) totally bananas. Elen was banished for correctly suggesting the traitors were likely to be female, after 2024’s series saw Claudia make a point of noting the male traitors continued to replenish their membership with other men. Without insight, this might seem suspiciously specific to say in the early days. Most brands use data and insights to inform decisions, but The Traitors shows it is just as important to prove that your data is robust, relevant and useful.
Long-term planning beats short-term reactions
The faithfuls are being reactive to the events of each day. It’s understandable, but it gets in the way. Minah is playing an almost undetectable game, but the beloved Linda has left some trailcrumbs. Her head spinning to the word ‘traitors’ at the first round table was a real clue, but players are leaving behind ‘older’ details and favouring the events of the day. Poor Anna was close to eviction for not knowing how to tie a knot – a good example of the dangers of putting too much emphasis on one mistake or event.
In business, it’s very easy to do the same – to respond reactively to market conditions, news events or short-term trends. While these activities have a place in businesses, they should never take precedence over longer-term goals. For example, rolling out useful generative AI solutions is important, but the focus on this should not be to the detriment of other types of business transformation.
I suspect some of the show’s faithfuls are not focused enough on the core activity: building up the prize money, and noticing long-term patterns in how others behave in order to identify traitors. On the flipside, The Traitors – handily, the ones with the data – are playing the long game. Minah in particular has currently found the perfect blend of fitting in without disappearing, contributing key ideas without seeming to lead.
Teams need a shared motive
This is perhaps the most obvious takeaway but nevertheless important: teams are not well motivated in workplaces where everyone is not working to the same goal. Knowing that there are team members whose goals subvert their own is extremely stressful for the faithfuls. Businesses must always ensure teams are aligned on their goals and know what success looks like if they want effective and aligned teamwork across the organisation.
There are many ways to get better under the skin of effective decision-making, and the UK’s most beloved contestant show is a prime example of interpersonal dynamics playing out when people have competing visions. Effective leaders create clear metrics for success which lead to a well understood ‘north star’; they use data and insight to make decisions and they always plan for the long-term.
Claudine Collins is the chief client officer of Essencemediacom UK and a final interviewer on BBC’s The Apprentice