The Flexible Fork : leadership, one email at a time
Take the manager's chair at a beloved Caribbean restaurant chain. Fresh back from a two-week vacation, you work through your inbox as the everyday dramas of running a restaurant unfold, and every reply is a leadership choice.
About the simulation
The Flexible Fork puts you in the manager's chair at a beloved Caribbean restaurant chain. Fresh back from a two-week vacation, you work through your inbox, replying to staff emails and instant messages as the everyday dramas of running a restaurant unfold across two busy weeks.
There are no “right” answers. Every reply draws on the six leadership styles identified by Daniel Goleman, coercive, authoritative, affiliative, democratic, pacesetting, and coaching, tied in with contemporary studies of leader behaviour. The simulation adapts to how you actually respond: your decisions branch the storyline and shape what lands in your inbox next.
At the end you receive a personalised debrief: a profile of the styles you reached for, an adaptiveness score measuring how well you matched your style to each moment, and a developmental report with practical guidance for growing your range. The most effective leaders don't lean on a single style, they read each situation and flex.
Quick facts
- Setting
- A Caribbean restaurant chain
- Structure
- Two in-game weeks
- Format
- Inbox · emails & instant messages
- Framework
- Goleman's 6 leadership styles
- Estimated play time
- 60–90 minutes
- Takeaway
- Adaptiveness score + report
- Access code
- $4.99 / learner Launch price
University instructors and trainers can request complimentary access to pilot The Flexible Fork with their class.
Outcomes, topics & use cases
Switch tabs to explore- 01 Recognise and apply the six leadership styles identified by Daniel Goleman across realistic workplace situations
- 02 Diagnose what a given moment calls for and flex leadership style to fit it, rather than defaulting to one approach
- 03 Connect everyday managerial decisions to contemporary theories of leader behaviour (visionary, consideration, moral leadership, and more)
- 04 Evaluate the consequences of leadership choices as they branch a storyline and shape team dynamics
- 05 Reflect on personal leadership tendencies using an adaptiveness score and a personalised style profile
- 06 Build a plan for widening leadership range using the developmental report's practical guidance
Undergraduate & postgraduate courses
An experiential anchor for leadership, organisational behaviour, and management modules.
Flipped & active learning
Assign as pre-class preparation, then debrief style choices and adaptiveness scores together in session.
Assessment & evidence
The developmental report and a responses-versus-ideal-answers export provide gradable, per-student data.
Online & distance education
A self-contained, browser-based experience where live role-play isn't practical.
Corporate L&D & new-manager training
Build range in first-time supervisors and people managers who default to a single style.
Workshops & executive education
An engaging experiential anchor for leadership bootcamps, seminars, and executive sessions.
Inside The Flexible Fork
