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Introducing radical candor - Radical candor is a model of communication that involves both caring about people personally and challenging them directly.

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Popularized term - The term was popularized by author Kim Scott in her 2017 book, which is also named ‘Radical Candor.’

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Two pillars -

The two pillars of the model–caring personally and challenging directly–are its foundation. When used correctly, they help to build strong working relationships.

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Caring personally -

Caring personally means showing empathy towards someone. It involves understanding the person you’re talking to and conveying a message without hurting them.

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Challenging directly -

Challenging directly means speaking directly to the topic at hand. It is important to be as clear, concise, and direct as possible when conveying a point.

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Obnoxious aggression -

To achieve radical candor, both pillars must be present. For example, if you challenge directly but don’t care personally, you’ll arrive at "obnoxious aggression."

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Obnoxious aggression -

This is what happens when you focus on the issue at hand, but you completely disregard a person’s emotions and state of mind.

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Obnoxious aggression -

With obnoxious aggression, the negative emotions a person experiences will likely negate the message you were trying, albeit clearly and concisely, to convey.

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Ruinous empathy -

By contrast, if you care personally but fail to challenge directly, you’ll arrive at what is referred to as "ruinous empathy."

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Ruinous empathy - This is very common, and it is what happens when we withhold valuable feedback out of fear of hurting someone’s feelings.

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Ruinous empathy -

The result of ruinous empathy is that nothing ever gets done and very little progress is made, because people are afraid of speaking up and giving their opinion.

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Manipulative insincerity - If you neither care personally, nor challenge directly, you’re really in trouble. With neither of these pillars, you arrive at "manipulative insincerity."

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Manipulative insincerity -

This is the opposite of radical candor and tends to be what happens in an organization where the culture is completely toxic, and no one cares about each other or the organization.

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The benefits of radical candor -

It seems clear, then, that radical candor is what we should be aiming for. But what are the tangible benefits of adopting this communication model?

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Open communication -

The first reason to adopt radical candor is that it allows for open and honest communication within an organization.

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Open communication -

When people feel they can be open and honest with one another, they can develop trust and build strong relationships with one another.

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Higher productivity -

Furthermore, when people in an organization feel comfortable giving and receiving candid feedback, it can lead to higher performance and productivity.

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Higher productivity -

Giving and receiving candid feedback also enables people to identify and address issues more quickly.

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Drives personal growth -

As well as encouraging the growth of an organization, radical candor can help drive personal growth and development.

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Drives personal growth -

If individuals feel comfortable receiving candid feedback, they can take the comments on board and make improvements.

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Prevents toxic culture -

Finally, adopting radical candor helps an organization prevent a toxic culture developing where people feel uncomfortable speaking up.

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How to practice radical candor -

Overall, radical candor seems essential for any healthy and productive organization. So, how can you find opportunities to put radical candor into practice?

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Regular one-on-ones -

If you are a manager, one way to practice radical candor is to schedule regular check-ins with your team members, perhaps on a weekly basis.

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Regular one-on-ones -

Use these sessions, which do not need to be as formal as a performance review, to discuss their progress and provide candid feedback.

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Post-project feedback -

It is also a good idea to provide candid feedback each time that your team completes a specific task or project.

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Post-project feedback -

Get in the habit of treating each completed project as an opportunity to provide feedback on what went well and what could still be improved on.

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Performance reviews -

Performance reviews are another great opportunity to exercise radical candor, although this time in a more formal setting.

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Performance reviews -

This time both the employee and the manager should have the opportunity to provide feedback on how the employee is doing.

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Regular team meetings -

Finally, regular team meetings where employees can share and discuss feedback can help foster a culture of radical candor.

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Regular team meetings -

It is essential that team members feel comfortable giving and receiving feedback among themselves as well as with their superiors.

Sources: (Roslin)

See also: What is nonviolent communication and how can we practice it?

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