Editorial
This article is the second in an ongoing series about Management by Haiku.
I am a huge fan of authentic feedback. I want to hear what you think, and I want you to make it clear and direct. Our culture has a strange relationship with directness. Too often, it’s conflated with rudeness. To be fair, sometimes people attempting to be direct are being rude. But I think that skirting around the point and avoiding the issue is also rude. It’s a waste of everyone’s time and doesn’t catalyze needed change.
My love for directness is one of the things that inspired my idea of Management by Haiku — the philosophy that your approach to leadership should mimic the Japanese art of haiku, famous for its clarity, succinctness and impact.
I believe that transparency is an essential part of successful leadership. A culture of transparency means open, honest conversations — and that includes a no-B.S. feedback loop.
Great feedback helps you gut-check, bolster and/or refine your strategy and focus. What’s working? What needs to change? Are we straying off course? Do we need to realign?
It sounds simple, right? Just ask for direct feedback. Of course, it’s harder to actually make this happen. That’s where Radical Candor comes in.
Defining Radical Candor
Kim Scott is the bestselling author of two books: “Radical Candor: Be a Kickass Boss Without Losing Your Humanity” and “Just Work: Get Sh*t Done, Fast & Fair”. Kim is the co-founder of a company that helps organizations create healthy feedback cultures, build cohesive teams and achieve results collaboratively.
I’ve learned so much from her, and her personal and professional philosophy is a perfect fit with — and elevates — the idea of Management by Haiku. I recently asked Kim to share her thoughts on leadership, communication and building effective teams. She was, of course, radically candid.
The foundation of her philosophy is caring personally while challenging directly. It’s designed as “the antidote to toxic company cultures.”
Without realizing it, Kim in effect created her own haiku when developing the Radical Candor framework. While working on the concept, she took many classes and did a wealth of research. She was overwhelmed with the volume of “rules” and philosophies she wanted to keep in her head.
To distill those rules into something quickly understandable and actionable, she created a 2x2 framework that explains Radical Candor.
To me, this grid feels like a visual representation of Management by Haiku in action. It’s brief but speaks volumes.
And in a world filled with interesting coincidences, when I reached out to Kim about this article, she let me know that during her time with Google, she used to teach a class called — wait for it — Email Haiku. The idea behind it is just what it sounds like: Cut the superfluous content out of your emails. Be succinct. Be direct. Be authentic. Be clear. I couldn't agree more.
Related Article: Management by Haiku Means Ditching Your Comfort Zone
Creating a Culture of Transparency and Focus
Ready to begin fostering a culture of Radical Candor at your organization? Kim says there’s an order of operations. The first step is not for leaders to give feedback, but rather to solicit feedback.
This resonates with me. As I said, Management by Haiku isn’t intended to be rigid. The more information and feedback I receive, the stronger my leadership haiku becomes. Kim advises that all leaders should have an authentic go-to question to solicit feedback, and it can’t be a yes or no question. Her go-to: What can I say or do that would make it easier to work with me?
This challenged me to think about my own go-to. I quickly realized that it’s: “Please disagree with me. What am I missing here?”
As Kim notes, your question should be authentic to you but still tailored to the context and person with whom you’re speaking. And once it is given, you need to be ready to respond, and respond well. Embrace the discomfort, resist defensiveness and take the feedback seriously. That doesn’t mean you automatically adopt any suggestion that comes your way, but if someone gives you the gift of clear and caring feedback, they deserve your consideration and your gratitude.
No knee-jerk reactions. Feedback needs to add to psychological safety, not take it away. If your feedback is harmful and delivered without care for your audience, Kim says “That’s not being authentic or speaking with candor. That’s just being an [expletive deleted].”
Touché, Kim.
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Related Article: The Art of Delivering Feedback in Today's Hybrid Workplace
Don’t Be Afraid to Evolve Your Haiku
Managing by Haiku means leading with transparency and focus. It’s as simple as it is powerful. It cuts away the guesswork, the uncertainty and the intimidation. It helps people move further and faster, with purpose and confidence. Just like Radical Candor, it puts everyone on the same page, motivated to achieve the same goals.
And if a member of your team has candid feedback that can make your haiku even stronger, that’s even more powerful! It’s your job as a leader to ensure that all your employees feel comfortable enough to bring it to you.
In this spirit, I’ll continue asking people to disagree with me and what they think I’m missing. As you embark on your quest to become a better leader, I challenge you to figure out the question that will get you the info you need. Start using it regularly. You may be amazed by your team’s candor and what you find out.
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