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‘Nice’ Is a Four-Letter Word at Companies Practicing Radical Candor

wsj.com

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Re: ‘Nice’ Is a Four-Letter Word at Companies Practicing Radical Candor

#11
post #2

Article is behind a paywall.

Incognito windows and google searches for titles can get around that. Also consider paying for high quality journalism. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

> Also consider paying for high quality journalism

Absolutely! However in the case of the WSJ it is cancelled out by my desire not to give Rupert Murdoch any money.

Re: ‘Nice’ Is a Four-Letter Word at Companies Practicing Radical Candor

#12
post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you're using Chrome, try installing Referer Control [1] and setting http://www.wsj.com to "Custom: https://www.google.ca/search?q=wsj&oq=wsj&ie=UTF-8" . That should do the trick. [1]: https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/referer-control/hn...

It also works if you google the article title and then click the link from the google results.

Fair enough; I just dislike running into paywalls in the future, hence the preventative measure XD it's useful on sites like Quora, too.

Re: ‘Nice’ Is a Four-Letter Word at Companies Practicing Radical Candor

#14

This is that thing where managers buy a book and pay some consultants to (further) justify being dicks to their subordinates isn't it?

The idea is to dispel office politics by telling people to stop hiding their feelings and opinions.

The problem is that assholes will use it to justify being a dick, just as they used office politics and Ayn Rand.

Re: ‘Nice’ Is a Four-Letter Word at Companies Practicing Radical Candor

#15
I don't think this is a good idea. The point of a company is to execute the business plan and create revenue and profit by doing so. Requiring brutal honesty of employees doesnt help this. As an employee, you're supposed to play into your role as a cog in the machine. Your honest opinions don't matter very much.

Re: ‘Nice’ Is a Four-Letter Word at Companies Practicing Radical Candor

#17

This is that thing where managers buy a book and pay some consultants to (further) justify being dicks to their subordinates isn't it?

The idea is to dispel office politics by telling people to stop hiding their feelings and opinions. The problem is that assholes will use it to justify being a dick, just as they used office politics and Ayn Rand.

In reality managers do stuff like hide their opinions so people will stick around so they can burn them at review time. If someone quits too soon, the manager may have to burn someone they like. How did working get to be so dumb?

Re: ‘Nice’ Is a Four-Letter Word at Companies Practicing Radical Candor

#18
Ray Dalio published his "principles".

It's a fascinating read

http://www.bwater.com/Uploads/FileManager/Principles/Bridgew...

The other interesting aspect is that Dalio is an adherent of Transcendental Meditation and IIRC the principles really sprang his study of TM and Buddhism.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/02/12/meditation-creativi...

Meditation has also transformed the corporate culture at Bridgewater. Dalio pays for half of the fees for any employee who's interested in learning TM, and the office features meditation rooms and group sessions. The company is also known for its "brutally honest" meetings, and Dalio says meditation helps his employees to adopt an attitude of calm equanimity that helps them to engage in a productive dialogue without reacting emotionally.

Re: ‘Nice’ Is a Four-Letter Word at Companies Practicing Radical Candor

#19
Heh, Randstad advocating candor, who could have guessed. It's a Dutch company, and straight-to-the-point, no-BS candor is one of those Dutch culture things. Of course you need to strike a careful balance, as Kim Scott aptly defines according to the article: candor = "giving criticism while showing genuine concern".
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