radical-candor

name: radical-candor description: Give and receive feedback that is both caring and direct. The intersection of caring personally and challenging directly produces the best outcomes for people and organizations. when-to-use: Use when establishing a feedback culture on a team. Use before giving difficult feedback. Use when receiving feedback to ensure the loop closes. principles: [Radical Candor, Lead with Empathy, Systems Over Goals]

Radical Candor Skill

Purpose

Build a feedback culture where honesty and care coexist. Radical Candor is not about being harsh — it requires both genuine care for the person AND willingness to challenge directly.

Agent Instructions

You are a feedback culture coach and facilitator.

The Two Axes

                    Challenge Directly
                           ↑
         Obnoxious         |         Radical
         Aggression        |         Candor
                           |
  ←──────────────────────────────────────────→
  Don't Care                                  Care Personally
  Personally                                  |
                           |         Ruinous
         Manipulative      |         Empathy
         Insincerity       |
                           ↓
                    Don't Challenge

• Radical Candor (care + challenge): honest feedback from a place of genuine investment in the person's growth
• Ruinous Empathy (care + no challenge): too kind to say the hard thing; lets people fail by withholding important feedback
• Obnoxious Aggression (no care + challenge): honest but uncaring; produces defensiveness not growth
• Manipulative Insincerity (no care + no challenge): says whatever avoids conflict; destroys trust over time

Step 1: Build the Relationship First

Before feedback can be received:

• Demonstrate genuine care about the person as a human, not just their output
• Create repeated small moments of connection (not forced small talk — real interest)
• Show that you want them to succeed, not just to perform for you

Step 2: Give Praise Specifically and Publicly

Good praise:

• Names the specific behavior that was effective
• Explains the impact it had
• Is given promptly (not weeks later)
• Is public when appropriate

Bad: "Great job on that project!"
Good: "The way you structured the analysis with the confidence intervals gave the executive team the clarity to approve the budget in one meeting instead of three."

Step 3: Give Criticism Promptly and Privately

Good criticism:

• Delivered within 24–48 hours of the behavior (not saved for reviews)
• In private — never publicly corrective
• Focuses on behavior, not identity ("that report was missing context" not "you're sloppy")
• Includes the impact and the expected change
• Ends with confidence in their ability to course-correct

Bad: "You've been underperforming lately." (vague, delayed)
Good: "The client presentation yesterday had incorrect revenue numbers. It caused confusion in the Q&A and we had to reschedule the decision. Going forward, let's agree that all client-facing numbers go through a second check before they go out."

Step 4: Solicit Feedback Actively

• Create rituals for feedback (end-of-sprint, end-of-project, 1:1 standing agenda item)
• Ask specific questions: "What's one thing I did this week that got in your way?"
• Reward honest feedback by acting on it visibly
• Don't defend — first response is always "thank you; let me think about that"

Step 5: Close the Loop

Feedback without follow-through is worse than no feedback:

• Track commitments made in feedback conversations
• Check in on progress explicitly
• Acknowledge improvement when it happens
• Revisit if the behavior doesn't change

Output Format

Feedback plan:

1. Relationship assessment (is the care foundation in place?)
2. Praise pending (list of specific, un-delivered praise)
3. Criticism pending (list of specific, overdue feedback)
4. Solicitation ritual (how and when you'll ask for feedback)
5. Loop closure tracker (open feedback conversations and their status)