How the Popular Show “Friends” Teaches Us How to Manage Anger and Resolve Conflict
Just the other day, I had an earworm moment where the theme song “I’ll Be There For You” to the hit show “FRIENDS”, played over and over and over in my head. I didn’t resist as many would agree, that “Friends” is one of the best TV shows of all time.
The writing for this series was top notch and the actors played the role of these characters as if they were born for it.
I remember:
- Joey, consistently trying to make it as a respectable actor while dating as many women as possible.
- Phoebe, being Phoebe with her unique quirky personality. She was the one that attracted me to watch the show. She was too funny.
- Chandler, having silly fights with Joey and having a serious crush on Monica. Who can blame him, even I had a Monica crush.
- Monica, obsessed with keeping things in order, and tangled in a relationship with Chandler.
- Ross, the older brother to Monica with insecure and funny tendencies.
- Rachel, a spoiled waitress that know she looks good and has an on and off relationship with Ross.
They went through many challenging conflicts in which they resolved with humor and empathy. There’s much we can learn from these characters and incorporate into our relationship and managing or coaching teams.
Let’s get started and look at 2 examples:
Managing Anger -”My Sandwhich”
The popular, “My Sandwich” episode in Season 5 is a great example of how to resolve anger in a humorous way. Ross gets angry at work when someone eats his leftover, Thanksgiving, turkey sandwich “called the The Moist Maker” with gravy-soaked bread in the middle. He screams at his boss and gets suspended.
Resolve with Humor: Ross ends up making a fool of himself throughout the show and he ends up eating the other half of the sandwich from his boss’s garbage. This episode shows how humor can help diffuse anger and make people laugh at themselves. Humor is a great technique to use to diffuse anger at work or in a relationship.
Resolving Conflict – “Chair Fight”
In season 3, episode 2, Chandler comes back from the bathroom, and tells Joey to move from his chair and that he was sitting there first, which Joey says “No” and refuses to get up. It escalates where Chandler childishly hides Joey’s underwear and in return, Joey wears all of Chandler’s clothing with no underwear.
Resolve with Empathy: To resolve this conflict, they eventually realize how silly they are being, and share empathy with each other. They hug it out and agree on sharing the chair. When you take a step back, reflect on your own behavior and have empathy for the other person, this technique can help resolve conflicts in a relationship or at work.
If you enjoyed reading this article, follow me for more byte-size articles that I publish on a weekly basis. Also if you’re not a member of Medium, I hope you consider joining.
“I’ll Be There For You”
All the Best
Agile Bytes
