Firstly, I was pleasantly surprised by the book. I did not expect it to be as interesting as it turned out to be. Kim’s writing style is crisp and articulate and the book is suitable for people from different business spheres, even though it’s based on the work life of the Silicon Valley. I find her to be a figure of authority, since she has worked for such big names like Google, Apple and Twitter.
It can most definitely influence the work environment and health of the individual teams and company as a whole and in turn increase the overall productivity. Bellow are some of the details I have found most important:
Giving proper and valuable feedback is as important as creating a pleasant and productive work environment. The problem with giving feedback is that when you tell people they are making mistakes or not doing their job right, it usually damages the relationship you have with them (it’s difficult for anyone not to take criticism personally). Kim calls this a vicious cycle between boss’ responsibilities and their relationships. The way out and a move in a positive direction is the new management philosophy Kim call’s ‘Radical Candor’ which improves communication, resolves resentments and helpsl people love their job, coworkers and company. Radical Candor has two dimensions: ‘Care Personally’ (we are all human beings with human feelings and need to be treated as such by the boss and the peers, so as not to feel as just another cog in the machine) and ‘Challenging Directly’ (pointing out the goods and the bads to your boss, peers and direct reports is the key to overall business success and trusting relationships). The two dimensions are entwined and one will not work without the other.
Honestly, I believe these are already partially present in my team at work. We for sure care about each other, sometimes a bit too much, so we avoid challenging one another. I feel the challenging requires time - we need to get to know each other well in order to learn how best to praise and criticize the work of each member.
“Radical Candor works only if the other person understands that your efforts at caring personally and challenging directly are delivered in good faith.” Now there’s the catch - it needs to be understood that you are being radically candid for a good reason, not to be malicious. Radical candor needs to be on the company or team level, not just the boss being candid and employees not getting it. Another dimension that needs to be taken into account is different nationalities within a company (which Kim exemplifies with her experience with Japanese team). Radical candor just wouldn’t be the same for a British and for a Slavic person in a company.
Kim differentiates between two types of workers: ‘rockstars’ and ‘superstars’. Rockstars are the foundation as the name says, people who develop gradually and love where they are; they are not over-ambitious and are often undervalued, which results in them often feeling unappreciated and unhappy. Superstars have a steep growth trajectory, they are zealous and always biting for more. Now, an individual doesn’t have to be one type during the whole course of their career, but more often than not these phases interchange and the boss and team need to adapt to changes. Kim stresses the importance of a boss recognizing the type of worker, but I feel it is also important for an employee to recognize who they are. This is difficult because nowadays everybody feels the pressure to be a superstar and not settling for rockstar, especially financial pressure.
Kim goes on to explain how best to get, give and encourage guidance and the key is creating a culture of open communication. To create it both ‘challenging directly’ and ‘care personally’ dimension need to be present. Failing in challenging directly leads to ruinous empathy (avoiding pointing out mistakes so as not to create discomfort). Failing in caring personally leads to obnoxious aggression (criticizing without taking the time to care about the person - belittling, embarrassing in public). Failing in both leads to manipulative insincerity (not challenging directly because you simply do not care for whatever reason). The most common of these that I have seen is ruinous empathy. Everybody wants to be liked and there is often more than enough stress going around as is, so nobody wants to cause more by accusing the boss or peers of being wrong. Kim points out that Radical Candor starts by asking for criticism and I believe we have already developed that culture in both the team and the company and to keep pushing it will not be a problem, but again it takes time and emotional effort. It is crucial to balance the praise and criticism and never criticize without pointing out the good sides and vice versa.
A good section of the book is devoted to helping the boss find out what motivates each person on their team. This is not as useful to an individual team member as it can be to a team lead, but it can be in the future :) The lesson from this section is - talka and observe, see your peers and reports each day with fresh eyes because people constantly change.
GSD (Get Stuff Done) wheel - the key to collaborative work. Pretty straightforward, but Kim stresses the importance of not diving in, but going through all the below steps in a manner appropriate to the size of the team, company and idea.
Listen
Clarify
Debate
Decide
Persuade
Execute
Learn
Perhaps the most useful sections of the wheel for me are the Listen and Persuade. Listening doesn’t just apply to the boss listening to the team members, but them listening to each other. I do believe we may solve many issues just by listening to each other more attentively, without having to involve the boss. It is of utmost importance though, to listen to understand not to listen to respond. Persuade section covered can be applied not only within a team, but in our relationship with captains. When persuading somebody that your idea is worth their time, you must take into consideration their emotion, you must demonstrate credibility and the logic of your idea (which may be obvious to you, but nonsensical to others).
The part two of the book provides techniques that can be used to create a radically candid environment.
The one that I would point out for creating a relationship with a coworker is respecting the boundaries. The boundaries vary from one person to another depending on their personality and work attitude, but once you figure those out for each team member, that is when you can have a sound relationship with them.
When it comes to guidance - giving, getting and encouraging praise and criticism, the most valid point that Kim makes, in my opinion, iis the importance of impromptu guidance. Saving praise and criticism for later will diminish their strength and usefulness. I really believe that guidance given or received on spot is the most honest and the most valuable one you may give or get.
Career conversations and growth management plans are an important topic mentioned in the book, that may be further explored and introduced to our community. I believe everyone feels more comfortable knowing where they are heading and what they should expect in their future.
Techniques that keep the GSD wheel turning like 1-on-1, all-hands, big-debate meetings and similar are already introduced and well received in our culture, so the only aspect that each team should work on is time-management and not letting the above influence productivity.
Overall, there are useful and interesting topics and issues raised in the book, that everybody may find useful, no matter whether they are in a managerial or a subordinate position. There is a lot to be learned from Kim’s experience and the book is not a bad vacation read either. :)
