In the beginning…
Why? How? and What? of Foundation Weeks at Hyper Island.
Why?
Why? Why I’ve signed that 6-month contract with HyperIsland? Why I’ve traveled 3200 kilometers from home to the 5th most criminal city in Europe. Why instead of spending my time with my wife, my relatives, and my friends I’ve decided to spend my time with 40 strangers? Why instead of having standard 8 hours workday I now have damn 16 hours study-workday? Why instead of fluently using my native language and sarcasm like a god I now have to talk in English with jokes level of middle-school teenager? What’s wrong with me? When did I choose the wrong path?
That was the thoughts I had while I was waiting for the late night bus that would get my freezing body from Manchester’s airport to my new home. You know, thought like that chewing gum on my jeans from some random douchebag that thought it would be fun to glue it underneath the seat. No network, no wi-fi, no food, after 36 hours of my first ever insomnia. Such a warm welcome Manchester, such a warm welcome…
But all the thoughts completely vaporized after I’ve met my new crew. That last day #beforehyper changed my mindset completely. Life stories, journeys, laughs, drinks, talks, international greetings and absolute amazement of the people here. I’ve met the crazy ones who dream to change the world, who dream to create a new type of products, businesses, cultures, and even governments. And understanding that I am a part of this tribe of dreamers is something I’ve been waiting for a long time.
I got my answer on all the why’s that bugged me for so long. I am here to learn from them and in exchange help them achieve their goals.
How?
Way Week
Hyper Island is well known for its first week. That week that puts you out of comfort zone as far as you can stretch. That week that leaves you completely naked in front of the honest feedback about you and your blind spots. That week that challenges not your professional skills, but challenges you as a human and part of society. That week that changes your perception of teamwork and culture. That week that shows you more about you than you ever knew. That week that speaks from I. The Hyper Island Way Week. And it is not something that you would like to experience after my description right? :D
After “way week” I felt like I knew each one of the crazy ones for a whole century. We’ve opened a lot of personal stuff for each other and got the level of trust I’ve never seen in my whole life for such a short period of time. And more importantly, I’ve found a lot of fascinating things about myself and how people think I am, that gave me both strengths and thoughts on improvements.
Creativity Week
But the first week is just a warm up for the second. That week that gets your brain melting with rainbows and unicorns poop. That week that puts you in front of a magician and you rejoice like a child for some basic coins tricks. That week that is more “yes, and” then a “yes, but” week. That week that brings you down to a randomly created team to solve a well known UK brand brief for 48 hours. That week that challenges everything you’ve learned from the first week but this time with your professional ego as well. That week that you think is longer then a month. The Creativity Week.
After this week I felt like I am too old for this shit. But I enjoyed it :D
“How?” is exactly what Hyper Island Foundation Week is about and it’s something that I’ve been cultivating in myself for a pretty long time now. What’s the point of celebrating the victory if the whole team hate each other? What’s is the point being always frustrated with somebodies behavior and keep it in yourself? What’s the point of brainstorming if only one or two voices being heard? What’s the point of being part of the team, if the only thing you care is your opinion? What’s the point of asking the question if you don’t want to hear the answer?
It’s always was and always will be about a process. About healthy and opened relationship between each other. About being brave enough to give and receive the honest feedback. About listening to what people feel, not only what the say or think. About being a best possible version of myself in order to bring the best possible value to others. Hyper Island Foundation Weeks is the journey, not the summit.
It’s so obvious that one might think it’s a waste of time and money. Well it’s not, you just have to experience it at least once to understand that you want to live by this models and principles for the rest of your life. The only problem is that you will have to bring this culture of openness and trust back to your country, and that is what Hyper will help me in.
What?
What do you think?
