How to survive a zombie apocalypse: The debrief
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EmailAfter you’ve played the leadership game “How to survive a zombie apocalypse,” it’s important to debrief and talk about the lessons learned.
After youth have played “How to survive a zombie apocalypse,” which the rules and information on how to play can be found in “What leadership styles will help you survive a zombie apocalypse?,” it is important to debrief and talk about the lessons learned. Use the following questions and tips to help any facilitator through this process.
Team reflection questions
Ask each team to share how the game went for each of them. Ask what their role was in the group. For example, were they the assigned leader, did they take a leader role, were they the runner for the group?
Ask other questions, such as: For those of you with injuries, what additional challenges did you face in getting to the safe house? Did anyone help you? If so, how?
Did your leader present any challenges to your group’s success? What were they? Was it frustrating? Did you understand what they were doing?
Have the leaders unveil their leadership style and drop down the prepared newsprint at the front of the room with each leadership style written on it. For help in discussing the styles, see “What makes a good leader? Part 1” and “What makes a good leader? Part 2.”
Take time to talk about what each leadership style is and consider the pros and cons of each. What situations are suited for which leadership styles? Does the same person always have the same leadership style? Be sure to talk about how strong leaders will slip in and out of all four leadership roles depending on the situation and that is what makes a well-rounded, strong leader.
Ask the leaders how hard it was to stay in their assigned role. Did their assigned role differ from the leadership style they usually take? If so, how did that affect them?
Ask each group: Did your leader’s style help your group be successful? Why or why not?
When the rules kept changing but you as a participant were not informed, was it frustrating? What did you do to overcome this (get angry, complain, quit, find a way to work around it, etc.)?
Zombie reflection questions
What groups seemed successful through your observation and why?
Was it hard to work alone and have no leadership? Did you try to work with other zombies?
When the rules kept changing, was it frustrating or rewarding? For zombies, this is usually a very rewarding thing, so you can have further discussion on how although it was rewarding for them, it was clearly not fair for others.
The debriefing process should show that one leadership style will never work for all situations, but all leadership styles have value and purpose when used properly. This game is a great way for youth to discover different ways they can identify the style they are using and challenge themselves to be self-aware and decide if it is the correct style for the situation.
