Jitske Kramer on navigating tricky times

Tricksters are necessary to challenge the status quo. But when we elevate them to leader​s, we risk ending up with ​'Jack Sparrows as CEOs and Pinocchios as political leaders​'.​In this episode Paul Skinner, founder of MarketingKind, interviews ​Jitske Kramer, corporate anthropologist, speaker and author of nine bestselling and award-winning books​, about the ideas in her latest book Tricky Times: Navigating the Messy Middle of Change.​ Jitske argues that after decades of pursuing limitless growth, we’re finally confronting the reality that limits do exist. The global order is shifting, and we’re in what anthropologists call a liminal phase​, the messy, uncomfortable middle between an old system that no longer works and a new one that hasn’t fully emerged.And there’s no shortcut through it.Transformation requires this period of not knowing.That’s why leadership matters more than ever right now. But it’s also why leadership is so difficult. Many leaders are deeply invested in the old world order, so even when it’s clearly failing, letting go takes courage.During the conversation we explored the role of the trickster​, the archetype that bends rules and ​tests boundaries.Tricksters are important. They ​challenge and expose weaknesses in the system.But there’s a risk.When societies start to celebrate tricksters as heroes, we sometimes end up putting them in charge and that’s when a trickster culture can take hold.As Jitske warns, tricksters don’t just play​, they have a playbook.Big promises that don’t hold up.Simple scapegoats for complex problems.Narratives designed to provoke emotion rather than truth.As she puts it:​ “Don’t be fooled by big promises. And watch for the old human trick of the scapegoat​, ‘because of the refugees, we don’t have houses’. It’s bullshit, and we should call it out.”The challenge for all of us is to resist the seduction of those narratives and instead create space for honest, difficult conversations.Because tricksters have always existed.But in a world of digital platforms and limitless AI, the trickster playbook has become far more powerful and far more dangerous.​