[goldcd]

I always felt that most "enforced-fun-games" were excellent at team building. Being "asked to cross an imaginary river" etc is a great way to unite the humble employees in their universal loathing of their woefully mis-guided management. Always had a niggling feeling that the 'bad games' couldn't be that bad by accident. ("Look, everybody hates everybody - could we push some more hate towards us, so they at least talk to each other?")

Or there are the "split into small groups to do a task" tasks, which are usually won by teams where one person 'just does it', whilst the rest are bickering around how to break down the task and assign r&r. Again, not sure if this is the point, but you very rapidly notice which of your colleagues are both loud and useless.

Oh and final whine, 'the prizes' There doesn't need to be one - but if there is, could it please be something that's actually wanted? Branded merch, $100 Apple voucher, ask the CEO a question etc...

..actually, I wouldn't mind asking if his bonus is an f'in polo shirt.

[aaron-santos]

> the 'bad games' couldn't be that bad on purpose.

Is it the same reason that hazing create shared trauma which we cope with by forming bonds?

[goldcd]

Exactly - wish I'd plucked that word.

Team-building is the only legal form of hazing allowed by companies. Now that's not to say all Team-building is hazing - but...

[devlopr]

Ask the CEO a question as a prize? Can I forefit my winnings?

Maybe it's me but I can't think of any question that would produce an answer of information I didn't know and actually want to know. From any CEO.

What would you ask Musk? Or your own CEO if you had the chance?

[joshspankit]

How about something like “How can I get from here to _____?”. Asking for the CEO’s perspective on moving up in your career.

They might not be good advice, or they might not have insight in to you as an employee (though I would challenge them to get that first as part of the question), but you just might uncover some unknown unknowns and open some doors.

[MR4D]

“What keeps you up at night”. The answers to that are usually pretty honest in my experience.

[acntr_employee]

I would ask, how he can sleep at night knowing that women earn significantly less than their male counterparts. Or how he would explain around 100% difference in salaries for the exact same job depending on the person.

[devlopr]

Asking that question after winning an employee game wouldn't give you much insight. He or she would say they are working towards some goal and ask you to join the committee on women's pay.

If you asked HR they will probably give you more of an honest answer. We are trying to pay people as little as possible.