Radical Candor - this time, with an example!

"It is difficult to bring people to goodness with lessons, but it is easy to do so by example".?

I happened to read this quote somewhere and here I am, all set to bring in the goodness of Radical Candor to you, albeit, this time around with an example!?

You can find the lesson on Radical Candor here.?

To give you a brief idea, Kim Scott defines Radical Candor with the acronym HHIPP.?

HHIPP: “Radical candor is Humble, it’s Helpful, it’s Immediate, it’s in Person — in private if it’s criticism and in public if it’s praise — and it doesn’t Personalize.”?

Now, let's dive straight into the example.?

Example: "Making the same mistake repeatedly".?

Scenario: Tim has an important time-bound report that needs to be completed and sent by Thursday 3 pm, every week. Lately, he has been delaying the report, by a couple of hours sometimes, causing havoc amongst the senior management.?

Let's look at the responses here.?

Obnoxious Aggression:?

You yell at Tim from across the floor, call him names and ask him to get his act together. You tell him, "There are many out there, eyeing your role, Tim. If you repeat this again, I'll make sure you're fired".?

This makes for an appalling sight and is a horrendous way to let Tim know that he needs to step up.?

Although Tim is made aware of the issue here, he may or may not deliver, and may in fact contemplate leaving the organization as soon as possible. The quality of his work may deteriorate further which could eventually lead to the team under-delivering.?

Manipulative Insincerity:

You mumble to your teammates, "God knows what's wrong with Tim, he has delayed the reports yet again. I bet he is going to delay it next week too!"?

The next time you see Tim, you offer him praise that you don't mean at all and casually tell him to send in the reports on time.?

When an obnoxiously aggressive person is asked to tone down his/her aggressiveness, it's a natural instinct for the person to be more political and hence, less genuine and therefore, to move from? Obnoxious Aggression to a rather worse place, Manipulative Insincerity.?

Ruinous Empathy:

You don't want Tim to feel hurt, so you stay mum and assume that he would figure it out eventually. During meetings, you offer praise that isn't specific and criticism that's sugar-coated.?

Ruinous Empathy is polite and nice but it's detrimental and damaging to Tim's career, and could get him fired too.??

Poor Tim is unaware of his sloppiness on certain tasks, the management considers him poor at his job and he gets fired.?

Radical Candor:

You speak to Tim privately and tell him, "Tim, you've been sending out the reports late, which is causing havoc amongst the senior management. I know it's natural to sometimes get caught up with other things leading to a delay in sending the reports, but this has been happening often in the recent past, and I felt I needed to let you know. If you've been swamped with work and need some help, please feel free to share some of your workload with the other teammates."?

Further on in the conversation, Tim admits that he has been going through a tough situation on the personal front, hence, he finds it difficult to focus at work.

This may be a rather uncomfortable conversation, however, you've been empathetic as well as candid with Tim. You've understood the root cause of his subpar performance, realized that he needs support. You could also advise him to take a few days off or share his workload with teammates - whatever that helps him to get his focus back, given his circumstances.?

Result: Tim feels cared for, feels valued, realizes his mistake, works towards the same and delivers better than ever!

Like I mentioned previously, it's impossible to be radically candid all the time. Yet, the aim is to be radically candid most of the times, if not all.?

Radical Candor is one step closer towards? creating an empowered team and thereby, an empowered organization!?