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‘Nice’ Is a Four-Letter Word at Companies Practicing Radical Candor
- carlivar 11y agoArticle is behind a paywall.
- striking 11y agoClick the Web link and click the first result and bam, it no longer is.
- everly 11y agoClick the 'web' link below the title to be taken to the Google results for the article's title, which you can click on for unfettered access.
- carlivar 11y agoHuh, thanks. Didn't realize that whole paradigm.
- Apanatshka 11y agoDoesn't work for me. Does this trick require JavaScript execution or cookies?
- deleted 11y ago[deleted]
- ivankirigin 11y agoIncognito windows and google searches for titles can get around that. Also consider paying for high quality journalism. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
- carlivar 11y ago> Also consider paying for high quality journalism Absolutely! However in the case of the WSJ it is cancelled out by my desire not to give Rupert Murdoch any money.
- turaw 11y agoIf you're using Chrome, try installing Referer Control [1] and setting http://www.wsj.com http://www.wsj.com to "Custom: https://www.google.ca/search?q=wsj&oq=wsj&ie=UTF-8" https://www.google.ca/search?q=wsj&oq=wsj&ie=UTF-8". That should do the trick. [1]: https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/referer-control/hnkcfpcejkafcihlgbojoidoihckciin?hl=en https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/referer-control/hn...
- Florin_Andrei 11y agoIt also works if you google the article title and then click the link from the google results.
- turaw 11y agoFair enough; I just dislike running into paywalls in the future, hence the preventative measure XD it's useful on sites like Quora, too.
- Apanatshka 11y agoHeh, Randstad advocating candor, who could have guessed. It's a Dutch company, and straight-to-the-point, no-BS candor is one of those Dutch culture things. Of course you need to strike a careful balance, as Kim Scott aptly defines according to the article: candor = "giving criticism while showing genuine concern".
- ivankirigin 11y agoKim Scott's blog has a lot more on the topic, and she has a book coming out: http://www.kimmalonescott.com/ http://www.kimmalonescott.com/
- Avshalom 11y agoThis is that thing where managers buy a book and pay some consultants to (further) justify being dicks to their subordinates isn't it?
- dawnbreez 11y agoThe idea is to dispel office politics by telling people to stop hiding their feelings and opinions. The problem is that assholes will use it to justify being a dick, just as they used office politics and Ayn Rand.
- codeonfire 11y agoIn reality managers do stuff like hide their opinions so people will stick around so they can burn them at review time. If someone quits too soon, the manager may have to burn someone they like. How did working get to be so dumb?
- CloudYeller 11y agoWork battles are kinda dumb, but in a way, they aren't dumb-- they're a much smarter and less-deadly form of primitive warfare. We're not perfect today, but ideas like enforcing openness+honesty in a safe environment will drive us even further away from the stone age mentality of physically harming someone who displeases you. Michael Jensen has been doing some research on the benefits of honesty-- you should check out his controversial research on integrity [0]. I think he'd support the idea of calling out managers who hide their opinions from you. Further, Google has done some HR research[1] that has called "psychological safety" the #1 driver of team effectiveness. [0] http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1511274 http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1511274 [1] https://rework.withgoogle.com/blog/five-keys-to-a-successful-google-team/ https://rework.withgoogle.com/blog/five-keys-to-a-successful...
- Avshalom 11y ago> I think he'd support the idea of calling out managers who hide their opinions from you. I suspect even the managers would support that... until it's their turn in the barrel. One of the problems with "treat others how you wish to be treated" is that a lot of people have very funny notions of both how they are treating people and how they would wish to be treated.
- xyzzy4 11y agoI don't think this is a good idea. The point of a company is to execute the business plan and create revenue and profit by doing so. Requiring brutal honesty of employees doesnt help this. As an employee, you're supposed to play into your role as a cog in the machine. Your honest opinions don't matter very much.
- slmyers 11y agoIs being able to deliver blunt and direct criticism without being rude a unique or rare skill?
- protomyth 11y agoI don't think the skill is that rare, but I think the application of the skill is rare. There tends to be external factors which might lead a person to be angry which seeps into the criticism as rudeness. I think a lot of people can deliver blunt and direct criticism to a stranger in a cool, calm manner. It's dealing with the familiar people that makes it difficult. I've watched my Dad do it and it also tends to shock the recipient when they expect some anger, etc.
- brandon272 11y agoI think that being able to effectively deliver blunt and direct criticism is rare. There are a lot of moving parts that make up the delivery. (attitude, context, tone, language, relationship, setting) I see people screw it up all the time.
- riggins 11y agoRay Dalio published his "principles". It's a fascinating read http://www.bwater.com/Uploads/FileManager/Principles/Bridgewater-Associates-Ray-Dalio-Principles.pdf http://www.bwater.com/Uploads/FileManager/Principles/Bridgew... The other interesting aspect is that Dalio is an adherent of Transcendental Meditation and IIRC the principles really sprang his study of TM and Buddhism. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/02/12/meditation-creativity-per_n_4769475.html http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/02/12/meditation-creativi... Meditation has also transformed the corporate culture at Bridgewater. Dalio pays for half of the fees for any employee who's interested in learning TM, and the office features meditation rooms and group sessions. The company is also known for its "brutally honest" meetings, and Dalio says meditation helps his employees to adopt an attitude of calm equanimity that helps them to engage in a productive dialogue without reacting emotionally.
- golemotron 11y agoThe clash between this and the culture of "trigger warnings" and "safe-spaces" that people are picking up in universities will be a thing to watch.
- dclowd9901 11y agoAren't trigger warnings a bit daft? How on earth are you supposed to reasonably account for a universe of possible scenarios that might "trigger" someone. By the way I say this fully aware that I am privileged to not suffer from, well, whatever triggers actually do to people... ("Feel bad" is all I can figure)
- theseatoms 11y agoI'd appreciate it if you'd respect my trigger warning for the phrase "trigger warning". Thanks.
- surfaceTensi0n 11y ago(Note: I did not read the article so I can't speak to the GP's point, but this comment isn't really about the article.) I don't think so. I don't think people are asking for all possible triggering scenarios to be covered. They're asking for people to take some time and consider how others (less privilege || victims of abuse ||etc.) might be affected. A trigger warning is essentially a heads up.
- flogic 11y agoIn general people want trigger warnings for the more obvious things. So, content that delves deeply into abuse, assault and the like.
- dragonwriter 11y agoI don't think that there.is any evidence that "the more obvious things" are actually common triggers (on the PTSD sense); there common sources of offense to that works on a more conscious level, but AFAIK that's almost completely unrelated to the mechanisms involved in triggering, even when the subjects involved relate to the source of trauma; it seems more hijacking the very real idea of triggering related to traumatic experience as a means of asserting a privilege against offense. Now, personalized trigger warnings in a context where particular individuals are known to be sensitive to particular things as triggers make a lot of sense, but AFAICT generalized trigger warnings have no valid basis in anything that has to do with actual triggering, and those pushing them trivialize real trauma-related conditions.
- seizethecheese 11y agoGreat, now "candor" will become a loaded word like "disruptive innovation" or "agile."
- twic 11y agoI give it five years until there's a candor plugin for Jira.
- imh 11y agoDo we really have such poor social skills that candor and niceness are at odds? Really? I get that it can be a difficult goal to achieve both, but goddammit we're all adults here. We should all have developed those skills! Just because you're going to be frank doesn't mean you have to be an asshole about it. This whole idea seems to justify people taking the easy way and putting nice and candid at opposite ends of a spectrum.
- Dirlewanger 11y agoWhile I agree with everything you said, have you (speaking with candor) not been paying attention the past decade or so? A lawsuit-trigger-happy populace coupled with millienials entering the workplace has caused such collective scarring that institutions like academia and workplaces are reacting. We're now equating emotional distress with material injury, and it's having vile reverberations that won't be fully felt for decades. It's censorship wrapped in hip new packaging. It's nightmarish to witness. This is what happens when children are raised in frictionless environments. The real world doesn't care about your feelings. (Can't wait for the downvotes)
- Avshalom 11y agoBecause of course the concept of social etiquette was just recently invented this generation.
- orthoganol 11y agoWell, yes... downvoted because it's the kind of copy-pasted drama mongering you find on r/news, where people pile on millennials and wax about the 'state of the world' because of a small, vocal minority, mainly on college campuses. It's not serious analysis...
- jrock08 11y agoThere is a huge difference between racism, and telling someone that their idea isn't fully thought out. The social justice movement doesn't care about the latter in the slightest. Discouraging racism and sexism in a workplace isn't censorship any more than discouraging swearing is.
- super2 11y agoIt would be great if we could practice Radical Candor here on HN. Let me give it a try. I believe that mono-cultures perform much better than diverse cultures, and that startups who actually practice diversity (as opposed to giving lip service) are less competitive. As evidence, I submit that the core teams of every monster startup I can think of were mono cultures. However once a company reaches critical mass, then diversity is a useful tool to increase the labor supply and thereby minimize wages. In well established industries, globalism and immigration are useful tools to increase labor supply and diminish wage pressure. Under this theory, both diversity and globalism are tools used by 1%-capitalists to wage economic war on the middle class. Economic data shows the economic war is working. Furthermore I assert that those who control the media actively suppress thoughtful critiques of diversity and immigration in order to protect their economic interests. WDYT?
- itgoon 11y agoIt seems to me that for some the problem isn't just that other people are blunt/assholes/etc. It's that many people lack the skills necessary to deal with assholes. I don't think trying to create conflict-free workplaces (as opposed to personal environments) is a good answer.
- danieltillett 11y agoOne thing I have wondered is how much cost there is in maintaining a conflict free environment where nobody is ever told the truth? It must be pretty large.
- kochb 11y ago> Kim Scott, an executive coach and former Google Inc. executive in online sales and operations, is writing a book about radical candor, which she defines as giving criticism while showing genuine concern. A key point in the article, radical candor feedback may be blunt but should also be well intentioned, not merely derogatory.
- hitekker 11y agoThere are two comments in the article, copy-pasted below which roughly summarize why this is a terrible idea. ---- Gene Consbruck: You had better not front-stab your boss. Mike Tian: "niceness", "politeness", or "etiquette" were invented to allow strangers to co-exist with less friction. They are a code of conduct to prevent violence when people lived in clans and tribes. It was a good invention. Within a trusted circle, you can strip away some of these things and be "brutally honest", and not rupture your relationship. But in a larger organization, where people are not necessarily your most trusted confidants, such a strategy is likely to massively backfire. You cannot have "brutal honesty" (e.g. strip away all the social lubricants of politeness) without a deep and abiding trust. Doing so will result in warfare, either open or subtle.
- twic 11y ago> You had better not front-stab your boss. Something my current employer does, which with hindsight is incredibly obvious, is to separate the roles of leader and manager. Leaders guide the day-to-day work, managers guide the careers of employees. I'm the leader of a development team, and while i do spend a lot of time guiding my team as to what to do and how to do it, i don't carry the can for their happiness, professional development, etc. Rather, that's in the hands of various other people in the company [1], who have monthly one-to-ones, collect feedback, give performance reviews, etc. As a result, one of the people on my team could absolutely front-stab me without fear of the consequences. They could simply say to their manager that i was a shitty team lead. It would then be up to the manager to act on that information, by giving me or my manager that feedback. That's not hypothetical; it's happened (i actually am a shitty team lead). [1] That's not to say i don't contribute towards that; if the manager of one of the people on my team comes and tells me that that person is keen to learn more about some topic, i'll try to carve out work related to that topic and let that person work on it. But i'm not the prime mover.