BUSINESS ENGLISH WORD OF THE DAY: ZERO SUM

BUSINESS ENGLISH WORD OF THE DAY: ZERO SUM

Is Gender Equality treated like a zero sum game in your workplace?

French translation: jeu à somme nulle?

Hello Darlings! Happy Friday!

I don't know if the French translation for ZERO SUM GAME is correct as I have it.

AMAZON

I just looked at Google Translate. I have never actually seen this expression written anywhere in French so I am not sure. Is this expression good french? Jeu à somme nulle?


Well, whatever the case may be, I am so incredibly sleepy and it's only 12:51 in the afternoon! How can this be possible?? I want to go back to bed and nap but my to do list is so long, it extends out my window! Sleeping for me, at this point, would be a zero sum game because sure I would gain my Zs but then I would lose my momentum and any hope of making progress with my projects. I can't take a nap, but I AM SO DARN SLEEPY!!!

Ok. So. In French, if you are familiar with this expression jeu à somme nulle, can you explain to me in English what this actually means in its application? For example, in a context of work.  If I asked you if gender equality is a zero sum game where you work, how would you respond?

Even in English, this is not necessarily a term I fully understand. I think it is used more in the context of management and economics and political science. It is based on game theory. Players in a game will win or lose. On person's gain will mean an equivalent loss for the other person or persons in the game.

Right? Basically that is  correct, you would say? I googled the term and it talks about "decision theory" and "operational gaming" and "conflict", and "competition" and "benefit" and "loss."

So at work, you figure you have these hierarchies and imagine you are in a management position and you have to decide between two employees which one to promote. There is already a lot of tension in the office because women feel that they are not getting promoted and men feel that women should not be promoted to top positions just because they are women. They feel that women have to be demonstrably better than the man if they are to be promoted to positions of power. This causes conflicts in your office, and even anti competitive behavior between the genders. Women on the other hand feel that all the benefits are going to the men and all the losses are going to the women.

Is this hypothetical illustrative of zero sum theory in your view? If not, please leave a comment explaining why or why not. I want to really understand this concept in English as I have to confess, I am not sure that I really do - and being that you are the expert in this domaine, I defer to you on this one. :)

Are you in a managerial position at your office? Do you feel that there is competition between the genders and anti competitive behavior based on zero sum mentality? How can companies deal with this, even assuming everything else is coming up peaches and cream?

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