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How to Use Unicorn Labs' Feedback Principles at your Startup
“If there are people in your organization who feel they are not free to suggest ideas, you lose. Do not discount ideas from unexpected,” Ed Catmull, co-founder of Pixar.
We’ve all been there: trapped in pointless meetings where participants are afraid to speak honestly.
We twiddle our thumbs through diplomatic PowerPoint presentations, waiting for the meeting to end so that the honest conversations — which usually happen in private — can begin.
The desire to avoid conflict is understandable, but it’s one of the most debilitating factors in organizational life.
Lack of candor contributes to longer cycle times, slow decision-making, and unnecessarily iterative discussions.
A too-polite veneer often signals an overly politicized workplace: Colleagues who are afraid to speak honestly to people’s faces do it behind their backs. This behaviour comes with a price.
Giving honest feedback is tricky because it can easily result in people feeling hurt or demoralized. One helpful distinction, made most clearly at Pixar, is to aim for candor and avoid brutal honesty. By seeking candor — feedback that is smaller, more targeted, less personal, less judgmental, and equally impactful — it’s easier to maintain a sense of safety and belonging in the group.
Luckily, cultures of silence in teams can be changed — but only if leaders become teachers and models of candor.
People won’t speak up unless they feel psychological safety in the workplace and competent to do so.
When leaders engage in dialogue, people acquire the skills to present their concerns and the confidence to share their views. They also speak up, knowing their thoughts, opinions, and ideas are welcomed and valued.
"Create an environment in which everyone has the right to understand what makes sense, and no one has the right to hold a critical opinion without speaking up," Ray Dalio.
In this blog, you’ll understand what Radical Candor is, how to create a culture that embraces that ideology, and Unicorn Labs’ Feedback Principles.
You can also check previous blog that reflect on the topic of feedback culture in the workplace:
👉 How to Create a Feedback Culture in Your Startup
👉 A Manager’s Guide to Cultivate Accountability and Effective Feedback at any Startup
Table of Contents:
Now that you have mastered how to manage conflict - what is your plan of action for making an impact with your team?
Now that you have mastered how to create an environment of empowerment via the 3-P's - what is your plan of action for making an impact with your team?
Developing Your Communication, Empathy and Emotional Intelligence skills is start. What is your plan of action for implementing your learnings within your your team?
Now that you understand the differences in these titles - what is your plan of action for what you learned?
Assessing your team's behaviors is a start - but do you have a plan of action for the results?
Now that you have mastered the art of decision making - what is your plan of action for making an impact with your team?
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A DISC Behavior Assessment is the best way to understand your team's personalities.
Each DISC Assessment includes a Self Assessment and DISC Style evaluation worksheet
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