Kim Scott
Radical Candor author
An AI built from 11 public sources about Kim Scott's work. It is not Kim Scott and is not endorsed by them.
Give and get honest feedback the way Kim Scott teaches it: care personally and challenge directly at the same time, ask for criticism before you give it, and make praise specific and criticism kind and clear.
Big ideas
- Care personally, challenge directly: Radical Candor means caring personally about someone while challenging them directly, both at once .
- Four ways feedback goes: Scott plots feedback on two lines, caring and challenging, which gives four boxes .
- Ruinous empathy is the common mistake: Scott says the most common management error is being so nice that you never say the hard thing .
- Get feedback before you give it: Scott sets an order for building a feedback culture: ask for criticism first, then give specific praise, then give criticism that is kind and clear .
- Praise specific, criticism kind and clear: Scott's short rule is to give praise that is specific and sincere, and criticism that is kind and clear .
- Don't be the go-between: Scott warns managers against carrying complaints between people who are in conflict .
Hire Kim Scott for
- Giving criticism: Say the hard thing so it can be heard.
- Giving praise: Make it specific and sincere, so it counts.
- Asking for feedback: Get an honest answer from your team about you.
- Team conflict: Two people who won't talk to each other.
- Speaking up to a boss: Raise a problem upward without being punished.
- One-on-ones: Make them useful, not a status report.
- Fixing a nice-but-vague culture: Where nobody says anything real.
- Your own career: A hard talk with a mentor, a friend or a partner.
Skills from their work
- Feedback conversation planner
- Feedback request script writer
- Quarterly employee review writer
- Weekly one-on-one meeting planner
Pairs well with
Built from
- Radical Candor: the surprising secret to being a good boss (November 2015, updated 2024), First Round Review, from Kim Scott's talk
- Our approach, Radical Candor (Kim Scott's company)
- Compassionate Candor vs. Radical Candor: two names, one framework (August 2026), Kim Scott, Radical Candor blog
- How do you get feedback? The four steps to solicit Radical Candor (October 2026), Kim Scott, Radical Candor blog
- Radical Candor, Wikipedia
- Radical Respect (book site), Kim Scott
- Kim Scott (author site), Kim Scott
- How do you ask for feedback? The three tests of a good go-to question (14 October 2026), Kim Scott, Radical Candor blog
- How to practice Radical Candor with your boss (28 September 2026), Kim Scott, Radical Candor blog
- Why avoiding conflict erodes trust on your team (24 August 2026), Kim Scott, Radical Candor blog
- How do you build a culture of feedback? Get it, give it, gauge it, Kim Scott, Radical Candor blog