Today at Friendz, or to be more precise, at the gym inside our office, we launch the FUCK OFF DAY.
What is the activity about? It is a feedback session with a very strong incipit that we organise from time to time.
This activity is an essential educational experience that we learnt to use with great benefits. As matter of fact, it allows people to express all their negative feelings, accumulated over time. It happens: sometimes, when we think that somebody acted unfairly towards us, we prefer to keep the sadness for ourselves instead of discussing the issue on the spot. Call it being shy or just politically correct, but we don’t challenge the status quo, leaving the discussion open, without a resolution.
That is why the F-Day was born: to create an occasion to speak up. All the episodes that generated dissatisfaction and that we silently stored in our memory are discussed with the colleagues. It is a cathartic moment when all the reasons of discontent are eradicated and the differences overcome, in a moment of pure and deep comprehension.
During the Fuck Off Day, everybody’s opinion is important: a comment coming from a different angle can, in fact, help in the process of self-analysis. And you can provide support too when it comes to articulate feedback for your colleagues. We learn to speak honestly and frankly, choosing the right words to express what we feel.
We sit in a circle and, one after the other, we enter it. While standing there, we listen to all the complaints other people have about us: sometimes they are hard, sometimes just unfair or actually really true. No matter what, we stand in the middle and we listen.
And it is there, in the moment when everyone is attacking you without having the possibility to reply back, that you learn and you understand where you made a mistake and how it influenced the work and the mood of your colleagues. You learn to open the ears and bite your tongue. You are there, open hearted, listening to other people feedbacks on you work and attitude. Facing criticism is made even hard by the fact that you are not allowed to reply back. So you listen.
While surviving to those minutes in which we are served heaping spoonfuls of criticism, we grow up. We grow up for real. Our gut forces us to be aware, even if the cost to be paid is holding back the tears. You know why? Because being able to speak honestly with other people and accepting their honesty back is one of the most difficult things in the world!
Moreover, if those criticizing you are the people you are working with every day, side by side, sharing everything (even the house, in our case), future plans included. But it is how it works: feedbacks are gold and are intended to help you. So, you say thanks and smile.
Thanks to the everyone for providing and receiving frank and ruthless feedback. It is a honour to work with such a brave team, which cares about the professional and personal growth of everybody at Friendz!
