Radical Candor

A pretty solid overview of a compelling philosophy, rooted in real-world experience at Google and Apple. Scott has an engaging writing style and knows how to balance claims with anecdotes, rather than the all-too-common anecdote-until-submission strategy of many business book authors.

I learned some new things and found her perspective to be clear and helpful for things which which I already had experience or opinions. Recommended overall.

Second reading to help prep for 2022 OKRs at work.

Radical Candor – Solid Leadership Advice, But a Bit Too Broad

4/5

I thought Radical Candor was a really good leadership book with a simple but powerful idea—be direct with feedback while also genuinely caring about the people you work with. Kim Scott explains this well, using personal stories and practical examples to make the concept clear.

What I Liked:

- Useful, real-world advice – The idea of balancing honesty with empathy makes a lot of sense, and the book gives solid tips on how to apply it.

- Engaging and easy to read – Scott keeps things conversational, with lots of relatable anecdotes.

- Applies beyond leadership – Even if you're not a manager, the book has good takeaways for how to communicate better.

What Didn't Work for Me:

- Covers too much – It felt like the book was trying to address every aspect of leadership rather than diving deeper into its core idea.

- A bit too corporate – Some of the suggestions, like printing out the framework and putting it on your desk, felt unnecessary.

Final Thoughts:

Overall, Radical Candor is a great resource for anyone who wants to improve communication and leadership skills. The key message is solid, even if the book could have been more focused. Worth a read, especially if you manage people or just want to get better at giving and receiving feedback.

This book became far more difficult to finish that I expected. I was excited to read it, had heard good reviews of it from colleagues, loved the title, etc. Unfortunately, it just didn't land for me.

This review is also more difficult than it should be to compose. It's hard to say that the book is fine, but I didn't care much for it!

I don't mean that as a criticism of the author or editor. The book is well-written and presented, and the language is accessible and effective. It is, though, a book for a targeted audience. I've led an organization for nearly 20 years, and I often tell people I'm the most reluctant entrepreneur one could meet. I enjoy reading management books because (a) I'm a little strange, and (b) it's an area where I feel like I can always improve. In that sense, there's nothing new in the pages of Radical Candor that I haven't read before. There are some excellent take-away snippets (like the “Get Stuff Done” Wheel and the chapter on improving meetings), and the overall theme of communicating development feedback continually is common yet continues to be good advice.

The problem for me is what feels like the unintended target audience: those with tech leadership proclivities. I'm not particularly enamored with Silicon Valley. The tech is fine, and the innovations of the past several years have enriched my life (as with everyone else). While I appreciated Scott's personal stories, and I understand that her experience is going to color the book with the Silicon Valley hue, it became difficult for me not to read this as an entreaty to “Just copy tech companies and experience success.” There's more to it, of course, and the Scott tries to convey that.

So I rate this one with three stars - straight down the middle. I suspect others will read it and love it, just as I suspect others will have a strongly negative reaction. I can think of a few people within my circles who would likely connect with it and derive substantial benefit; I'll recommend it to them without hesitation. For me, the material was fine, but it didn't convey much impact, and as such, I don't anticipate rereading this one in full.

Why, oh why do business and self-help books feel like they have to name drop to be legitimate sources of good practices? I can't stand all of the stories and the name dropping. Even if the content is good, which in truth, it is, I just do not like business books.

Summed up from another reviewer:
1. Radical candor = Care personally + challenge directly
2. Care personally starts with career discussions and good 1:1s
3. Challenge directly starts with asking for and taking criticism well yourself
4. Listen -> Clarify -> Debate -> Decide -> Persuade -> Learn, in that order

A must read for anyone who manages people.

Probably the single most meaningful book about work relations I've read. Should be re-read yearly. Full of advice and great examples. Easy to read.

Wow, pierwsza książka branżowa, po której mam wrażenie, że jest naprawdę użyteczna. Nawet jeśli sama koncepcja nie wydaje się atrakcyjna to jest tam masa użytecznych porad jak komunikować się z zespołami.

Honestly, this book was kind of a disappointment. A lot of people advised and it often goes on top of the recommended business book, but I found it to offer nothing really enlightening. Worse, it really made me wonder what is the exact mindset of a lot of managers to be in need of such basic advice that kinda be resumed into “be a fucking human”.

Worst, I saw this book provoke a kind of “radical wounding” way of talking for some of its readers, kinda forgetting the warning its author makes on doing “radical kindness” in a violent way and misusing the term.

Still there are some nuggets interesting to find here and there, but not really worth the time to go through the whole read tbh.

I'm not a boss. This book is technically not for me.

However, I listened to the podcast, and I truly enjoyed the way that questions were handled on that show. This book offers more details on the foundations of Kim's thinking towards radical candor as well as many examples.

It's a helpful how to for different situations.

After almost 3 years, I'm just gonna say I'm not finishing it. Totally hit a wall on this one. The nuggets are there but it feels like a fluffed up blog post.

The book is a great resource for everyone who wants to be a better boss. The Radical Candor framework definitely resonated with me and gave me plenty of food for thought, even if I've been working in a somewhat similar fashion for a while now. One of the things I really liked in the books is that it's full of practical and actionable advice, although the quality of the different chapters varies somewhat and the book could have been written in a more compact fashion.

I'm dropping one star mostly due to the crazy amount of name-dropping to support the author's arguments, and for choosing too simple examples to illustrate many important points. The updates in the new revised editions are mostly worthless (e.g. new foreword and afterword), except the performance review tips.

Some good points and anecdotes throughout.

I already knew a lot of the main talking points here from co-workers and I like to think that I'm both empathetic and honest in my conversations with others already, but the book has a lot of little tips on how to be more constructive with feedback without being mean and highlights a lot of a good examples of how to use Radical Candor in different situations.

Kim Scott has had an interesting career, working for several different high profile companies, so it's interesting to hear her perspective on how some of them operate drastically differently while still being successful.

I got the audiobook from the library after a few month waiting period and learned that you can't renew a book on Libby when it has that long of a wait list, so I ended up listening to the last half of it on ~1.5x speed, which I never do. It's read by the author herself though, and she can be a little slow and monotonous, so I didn't feel too bad about it.

Although I'm no longer managing people, I've heard enough people mention this book that I wanted to check it out. The focus is around communicating clearly with people and teams as the way to be the most effective. Opting for empathy over insincerity and candor over aggression. The goal is to actually CARE while challenging people directly.

Although I'm no longer managing people, I've heard enough people mention this book that I wanted to check it out. The focus is around communicating clearly with people and teams as the way to be the most effective. Opting for empathy over insincerity and candor over aggression. The goal is to actually CARE while challenging people directly.

I absolutely loved this book, and wanted to give it to every single person I ever worked with!

Excellent advice and tips in here. Very practical takeaways and helps you think through a lot of sides and facets of giving and receiving feedback

Hands down the best business book that I have ever read. It simply validated my
thoughts on management and I like when books reaffirm my beliefs. Haha. I truly believe that every boss needs to read this. It's a game changer.