Radical Candor: Be a Kick-Ass Boss Without Losing Your Humanity

by Kim Malone Scott

Ask each direct report to create a document with three to five columns; title each with the names of the dreams they described in the last conversation. Then, list the skills needed as rows. Show how important each skill is to each dream, and what their level of competency is in that skill. Generally, it will become very obvious what new skills the person needs to acquire.

If you have built castles in the air, your work need not be lost; that is where they should be. Now put the foundations under them.”

if you’re not dying to hire somebody, don’t make an offer.

When you have to fire people, do it with humility. Remember, the reason you have to fire them is not that they suck. It’s not even that they suck at this job. It’s that this job—the job you gave them—sucks for them.

THE ULTIMATE GOAL OF RADICAL Candor is to achieve results collaboratively that you could never achieve individually.

Stephen Kosslyn once gave a talk in which he described how people who work together on a team become like “mental prostheses” for each other.

The purpose of a 1:1 meeting is to listen and clarify—to understand what direction each person working for you wants to head in, and what is blocking them.

“Why?” “How can I help?” “What can I do or stop doing that would make this easier?” “What wakes you up at night?” “What are you working on that you don’t want to work on?” “Do you not want to work on it because you aren’t interested or because you think it’s not important?” “What can you do to stop working on it?” “What are you not working on that you do want to work on?” “Why are you not working on it?” “What can you do to start working on it?” “How do you feel about the priorities of the teams you’re dependent on?” “What are they working on that seems unimportant or even counterproductive?” “What are they not doing that you wish they would do?” “Have you talked to these other teams directly about your concerns? If not, why not?” (Important note: the goal here is to encourage the people to raise the issue directly with each other, not to solve the problem for them. See “Prevent Backstabbing” in chapter six.)

STAFF MEETINGS Review metrics, study hall updates, and identify (but do not make) key decisions

Here’s the agenda that I’ve found to be most effective: ■ Learn: review key metrics (twenty minutes) ■ Listen: put updates in a shared document (fifteen minutes) ■ Clarify: identify key decisions & debates (thirty minutes)

blocking two hours of think time on his calendar every day.

“BIG DEBATE” MEETINGS Lower the tension by making it clear that you are debating, not deciding.

A good norm is to ask participants to switch roles halfway through each debate. This makes sure that people are listening to each other, and helps them keep focused on coming up with the best answer and letting go of egos/positions.

Schedule an hour a week of walking-around time.

becoming a boss is like getting arrested. Everything you say or do can and will be used against you.