+ honesty
+ growth

The feedback model of Radical Candor
has made its way into Social Games Online.

ActioGlobal® rolls out the Radical Candor feedback model at

SOCIAL GAMES ONLINE

Social Games

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Social Games Online designs, develops, operates and markets Free-to-Play games for both mobile devices and the web within the Social Casino category with games Mundo Slots or Slot.com to provide unique moments of fun, excitement and a leisure alternative, with the best slots and available to everyone.
With a strong start-up philosophy and a team of more than 50 game makers of different profiles (Developers, Analysts, Marketers, Artists, Designers, etc.), they work with the most effective High Performance tools and methodologies, such as OKR and Agile, as well as in a culture that reflects their being passionate about their work.

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Yair Marc Martinez, CEO of Social Games Online and Eva Gol, Head of Culture & Customer Success of ActioGlobal®, speak about how teams and people are developed through Radical Candor, the feedback model based on radical honesty.

Eva Gol
Head of Culture & Customer Success · ActioGlobal®

Yair, it´s a real pleasure to have you share your experiences and insights in this section of ActioGlobal®´s website dedicated to the companies that shape the New Work. I've been following everything you do in Social Games and, if it's OK with you, let's now start the "game":

WORK HARD
PLAY HARD

I was excited to see that you have this principle as a driving force in your daily work. It shows how important it is for you to have your people enjoy what they do and this is exactly why everyone does it with the utmost passion and energy.

As a company with a lot of young talent, I assume that this "motto" is also the result of the fact that more and more millennials form the workforce and their values are shaping the future.

Yair, what do you think people, respectively teams, are looking for in a job today?

Yair Marc Martinez
CEO of Social Games Online

We have learned through experience that the new generations do not simply seek a job, they seek a vocation.

We want the new generations to find their vocation by developing their maximum potential, being aware that great dreams are not only achieved with enthusiasm but that it also requires a lot of effort.

Work Hard-Play Hard reminds us in Social Games Online every day that we need dreams and challenges that we enjoy, that make us grow, and that push us forward with enthusiasm and aspiration.

Eva Gol
Head of Culture & Customer Success · ActioGlobal®

So, you´re saying that learning boosts your performance?

Yair Marc Martinez
CEO of Social Games Online

Yes, of course, but let me specify this a bit more: it´s not only learning, it´s agile learning.

Learning quickly, with humility and generosity, always being aware that we can still improve. For agile learning it is essential to be open-minded , because you never have all the answers, and to want to help others, whether they are your customers or your colleagues. That is why giving and asking for feedback regularly is very important for us. We can't just stick to the annual performance review process. We need feedback on a daily basis. Understand and accept other points of view. Communicate with radical honesty.

CHALLENGE HONESTLY
Eva Gol
Head of Culture & Customer Success · ActioGlobal®

Now that' s intriguing, Yair, because you are a start-up. You could emphasize about your organization that you have a constant growth mindset, and you use practices like OKR or Agile through PEAK® but yet something as basic as communication, as feedback is fundamental to you and the culture of the organization.

Yair Marc Martinez
CEO of Social Games Online
Absolutely right, but I'm not talking about just any feedback. What I'm talking about is the Radical Candor feedback model.

A few months ago I realized that it was difficult for us as teams to interact, we were like ... well, ... very isolated, each one of us doing our own thing, and it was difficult to talk to each other assertively. Anything that was said was either something extremely "nice" that didn't lead anywhere or it was an excessively harsh criticism. This lack of empathy and commitment among us, often caused the teams to clash unnecessarily, generating a loop: poor communication, poor teamwork, poor cultural maturity and, of course, poor performance. For an organization like ours, young and collectively intelligent, to remain in such a situation was unacceptable.

I got in touch with @ActioGlobal® so that together we can figure out how to create an environment of psychological safety where people communicate with more empathy, but also call a spade a spade, challenge each other to improve, while always being there for each other and finally, we have begun our cultural evolution by implementing a High Performance feedback model: Radical Candor.

ActioGlobal has developed a high-impact program that transforms the culture of organizations by Radical Candor.

Yair Marc Martinez
Head of Culture & Customer Success · ActioGlobal®

Radical Candor like meaning “Radical Honesty”.

Yair Marc Martinez
CEO of Social Games Online

Yes, right, it´s the model based on Kim Scott's book. The Radical Candor program helped us to transmit and entrench a feedback culture in the organization. A culture oriented to both giving and receiving high-quality feedback, and this has been totally in line with the humility and generosity we were talking about before.

Eva Gol
Head of Culture & Customer Success · ActioGlobal®

So, have you felt that Radical Candor has helped you to improve your communication?

Yair Marc Martinez
CEO of Social Games Online

A resounding “Yes”. Before, people didn't feel comfortable sharing their worries.

I am now convinced that we are facing the problems in a more transparent and sincere way and with a common growth target.

Thus, I would say that we have not only improved our communication, but we have also learned how to give and receive feedback since we are aware that the person we are talking to is important to us, that we respect him/her and that, precisely for this reason, we have the moral obligation to challenge him/her and take care of him/her at the same time. If we want to be great professionals as well as the best team, feedback is undoubtedly a fundamental pillar.

Eva Gol
Head of Culture & Customer Success · ActioGlobal®

I clearly understand that it has helped you in your interpersonal relationships, and obviously it has also helped each of you individually, but I find it difficult to identify the impact on the organization regarding your culture.

Yair Marc Martinez
CEO of Social Games Online

I know what you mean, true, the most obvious part is to see that people are more empathetic, that they communicate more and that they have more confidence in each other. But when that emotional bond is generated in the team, when there is a sense of respect for you, for me and for everything we want to achieve together, then there is this "click" in the organization: the team becomes more motivated, aligned, more collaborative, more productive, more agile, innovating, is sharing knowledge .... and what does this translate into? Impact. Performance.

Feedback is closely related to the performance of the organization.

Let's not forget that, after all, a team is synergy.

Eva Gol
Head of Culture & Customer Success · ActioGlobal®

Agree. For me, a team is almost perfect when synergy and communication flow. But what is it that you particularly like about this High Performance feedback model?

Yair Marc Martinez
CEO of Social Games Online

There are many feedback models (the traffic light, AID, MIMO...). WelI, I´d say, actually

I like Radical Candor for its simplicity. It was very easy for everyone to understand.
Two axes:

These axes make it very clear. Either one is in Radical Candor or at a stage out of touch with it.

It´s something simple, but yet effective, so you can react quickly and move to the right place. I thought it could easily fit in Social Games Online because it is a very visual, straightforward and powerful method.

Eva Gol
Head of Culture & Customer Success · ActioGlobal®

I am very happy to hear you say this, because organizations and leaders need to understand the importance of promoting a feedback culture. Not only is the way of working important, but also the values and principles behind it. We see this in all transformations with PEAK®. There is no point in setting up a network of self-organized teams working towards OKR and common goals if these teams are not able to share information transparently and communicate effectively. This is why feedback needs to be culturally anchored, innate and spontaneous in the organization.

Yair Marc Martinez
CEO of Social Games Online

I like this phrase by Peter Drucker who says that "business culture eats strategy for breakfast". And especially in a modern knowledge economy environment like ours this could not be more true.

In a complex, volatile, uncertain and ambiguous business environment, all team members bring a unique, very deep and ultimately vital knowledge to the company. The best ideas will come from the teams (rather than from the boss). They are the first to experience conflict. But they often don't dare to raise their voices. Sometimes they want to but don't dare or don't know how. Problems become entrenched, conflicts remain unresolved and opportunities stay hidden.

With Radical Candor, communication flows. PROBLEMS and OPPORTUNITIES surface and can be addressed much sooner.

Making communication flow
Uncovering problems
Speeding up solutions

We empower teams to give feedback both to a lead and to a colleague about a poor decision or a misconduct, making each other more accountable and better. This is strategic to the success of a company, after all.

That is why I believe that Radical Candor should be the pillar of any healthy company culture that seeks to grow and improve.

Nacho Cortés
Product Owner of Social Games Online S.L

"In the MundoSlots team there has always been a fear of being too forthcoming and so to spoil both the professional and personal relationship with the colleague. Thanks to feedback model of Radical Candor this barrier has been reduced, making the bonds that we feared could be broken even stronger."

Pamela de la Muñoza
CMO of Social Games Online S.L

"Giving and receiving feedback is one of the most complicated issues within teams, and thanks to the Radical Candor model, we have managed to create important groundwork for promoting this practice. It has been a revolution within the company and it has had a very positive impact. Undoubtedly, there is still a lot of work to do, but the tools we have learned thanks to this training are crucial to take the first step towards becoming a company that is not afraid to address issues in a positive and constructive way".

New business challenges, unprecedented business perspectives.

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If you desire to shape the future, through Agility, Digitalization and High Performance then let´s make it come true – together.