The 4th Box

You’ve probably seen a two-panel cartoon before comparing Equality vs. Equity. It may have even appeared in a training or presentation you’ve attended recently. The team at Center for Story-based Strategy want you to know that while distinguishing the concepts of equality and equity is useful, it takes a lot more to start a fruitful conversation. In fact, when we stay in these two boxes only, we often invite dangerous and counterproductive conversations.



When presented with just these two boxes conversations repeatedly focus on familiar themes:



• Participants with privilege or resources raise concerns about “their boxes” being taken away.



• The either/or logic of 2 boxes erases the idea that we each might experience different boxes at different times/places in our lives.



• A focus on debating equality vs. equity avoids deeper conversations about how did we get here and what else is possible?



Play The 4th Box Simulation Game and begin your journey in discovering possible answers to, "How did we get here?" and "How can we move beyond this?"