I have a confession to make: I like swearing. Not spittle-from-the-mouth shouting at people, but the occasional use of a swearword to describe and amplify a point. Of course, whether swearing at work is acceptable depends on the culture and the context, so you have to be very careful (and possibly a bit senior in the organisation) to get away with it. However, it’s also a natural thing that most people do outside of work, so barring it from the workplace entirely has always felt odd to me.

To me, swearing is quite cathartic and I learnt recently that people who swear while exercising will expend 12% more effort than those who don’t, so that’s one benefit at least. It’s also often the most concise way to express an emotion, particularly using the word ‘fuck’. Looking at it in print like this, it’s a bit shocking, isn’t it? Like it really should have some **s instead of spelling it out. But few words are quite as versatile as ‘fuck’, which can show surprise, dismay, pleasure and awe amongst other things. 

Likewise ‘shit’, which strangely enough often has positive connotations — I still remember my summer job at Morgan Stanley in New York where “I have some shit to show you” was a genuine offer of help. Or consider one of Deliveroo’s early company values: ‘Give a shit’. They’ve removed it now but I’m not joking, it was there, and while it might be a little shocking, doesn’t it feel a lot more impactful than the bland alternatives of ‘Obsess about operational excellence’ and ‘Be curious’? (Incidentally, the tech company Atlassian has ‘Don’t fuck the customer’ as one of their values — no really, they do — which even I think might be going too far). 

Clearly, I’m not suggesting that every other word you utter should henceforth be a swearword. However, done judiciously, swearing will have quite a big impact. For example, as a collective escape valve when there’s been some external event: It’ll establish a deeper bond with your colleagues, because they’ll feel the same but are too timid to express their feelings out loud. Or to show that you’re really impressed by someone’s work: They’ll certainly remember that compliment. Or to add extra emphasis when something’s just not good enough (but be very careful with that one so it doesn’t feel like you’re insulting a person directly.) 

If you don’t swear often then people will definitely remember when you do, so do consider it another weapon in your arsenal for when you really need to have an impact. Just don’t fucking overdo it.