Learning about Radical Candor & our first 360 studio review
Thoughts from Lindsay, Director of Noble Studio
This year I have been reaching out - looking for interesting conversations with people who have had similar and not so similar experiences in the creative industries. One of these involved reconnecting with an old fellow freelancer - Francesca Allan (@chess.designs). Our lovely chat about all things design and industry had her recommending me read “Radical Candor” by Kim Scott.
(Yes that is a £10 note as a bookmark - a treat I would recommend!)
How Be Better Boss
After the first chapter, I came to understand a more accurate name for this book is “How Be Better Boss”. And it has taken me a while to get though, not because it’s a hard read (quite the opposite in tone) but because it has generated a lot of thought. I found myself needing pondering time between sections.
So the headline I have taken from the book is: the job of a boss is to create an environment for your team to thrive, to support them to do their best work. And you do this through quality collaborative processes, and in an atmosphere of trust and guidance. Common sense! But here delivered with practical examples and how-to’s: from personal stories to help understand the four quadrants of the Radical Candor axis, through to a specific schedule of meetings to undertake.
The trap of ruinous empathy
A strong focus of the tone is to address bosses who need to pull back on their harshness (or ‘obnoxiously aggressive’ behaviour) - as if talking directly to the culture cultivated and celebrated by silicone valley that needs some un-doing. But for me, a small time boss in a small team it has been equally helpful to be reminded not to fall too far the other way - into the trap of ‘ruinous empathy’. I am far more likely to avoid confrontation, focus only on the positives in feedback, and in the past have been guilty of taking not-quite-good-enough work to finish myself rather than engage in useful critique.
360 reviews
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360 reviews 〰️
This sentiment comes at a good time for us at Noble Studio. Earlier this year we embarked on our first 360 review process, and so feedback is in the air. Aware of how toxic 360 reviews can be, we wanted to approach this in a collaborative and sensitive way. Noble Studio veteran Anna (usually concerned with finance and strategic thinking) took on a consultant role - knowing everyone well but not being involved in the day to day running of the studio gives her a unique perspective.
Our version of the 360 process
Her initial conversations with team members set the tone for what feedback they wanted for themselves, and what tone they were comfortable with (from Mary Berry through to Simon Cowell).
Bespoke and anonymous questionnaires were created for each team member, and we spent a few weeks answering questions like
“What role aboard a ship would they best suit”
“What dial would you turn up on their skills and talents?” and
“What should they start or stop doing?”
Room for creativity and the use of metaphors encouraged more in-depth responses, leading to much richer feedback. All this information was collated and written into a letter for each person. In a reflective session the team shared feelings of relief and encouragement, and feeling safer and stronger to ask for more critique.
Thoughts from the team
The process was much enjoyed by everyone, and there is a sense from the team that the next time we do this, we will be able to ask for and receive deeper feedback and critique. Our 360 review process was fairly intensive time wise, so we are hoping to return to it annually.
Next steps
Our practical next steps in our feedback journey involve implementing learning from the Radical Candor book. In a group session sharing the principles and practice exercises - I encouraged the team to give me structured feedback. We practiced using the “situation, behaviour, impact” structure to construct our feedback:
Situation - describe the situation that occurred
Behaviour - describe what behaviour you witnessed
Impact - describe the impact that was made on you or others
Nerve wracking? Perhaps a little! Though I was pleasantly surprised to find the process generous and useful.
Here are some reflections from the team about this session:
“Excited to hear feedback from others to help growth…”
“Unsolicited feedback might make people feel uncomfortable”
“I think it will be really useful, but it is going to take some practice!”
How will we continue our feedback journey?
We will be continuing to think about feedback as a team, and practicing how to give and receive feedback to each other. We have shared what we are individually focusing on currently, and have invited support in those areas.
It has been a wonderful journey to embark on as a team so far, helping us develop our creative skills as well as improving our communication with each other.
Stay tuned for how we get on practicing giving feedback!