Get Shit Done Step 2 (Part 1) — Clarify Your Thinking For Yourself and Others 4 | 5

Once you have created a culture of listening, the next step in the Radical Candor Get Sh*t Done Wheel is to push yourself and your direct reports to understand and convey thoughts and ideas more clearly. Trying to solve a problem that hasn’t been clearly defined is not likely to result in a good solution; debating a half-baked idea is likely to discourage it. On this episode of the Radical Candor podcast, Kim, Jason and Amy discuss the two most important things to do when clarifying an idea.

Listen to the episode:

Radical Candor Podcast Episode At a Glance

As we discussed in our overview GSD episode of the Radical Candor podcast, it’s important to push the people on your team to clarify their thinking and ideas so that you don’t “squish” their best thinking or ignore problems that are bothering them. 

It’s not just important to understand new ideas clearly; it’s equally important, and often more difficult, to understand the people to whom your team will have to explain the ideas clearly.

The two most important things to do when clarifying an idea are to first get clear about it in your own mind by creating a safe space for people to discuss and nurture ideas, and second to make sure you can explain the idea in a way that is crystal clear to others.

Radical Candor Podcast Checklist

1. Use your 1:1 meetings to create a safe space for your team to nurture and clarify their ideas. If you don’t understand an idea, chances are others won’t understand it either. Spend a lot of time getting clear in your own head about an idea before you present it to others. Define, don’t refine.
2. As the boss, you’re the editor, not the writer. Help your team members clarify their ideas before they are presented to others by choosing what to eliminate and what to emphasize based on the audience that will be hearing the idea.
3. Encourage people time to brainstorm and explore ideas asynchronously before bringing them to the larger group. Set rules for brainstorming sessions, like we build and don’t tear down. Don’t make any decisions in the session. Set a time limit because brainstorming can't go on forever.

Radical Candor Podcast Resources

• Get Stuff Done: 2 Ways to Use Radical Candor to Clarify Thoughts and Ideas
• Radical Candor Podcast Season 4, Episode 2: Use the GSD Wheel So No One Feels Sad, Bad or Left Out
• Radical Candor Podcast Season 4, Episode 4: Get Shit Done Step 1 — Create a Culture of Listening
• The Wall Street Journal: Brainstorming Works Best if People Scramble For Ideas on Their Own
• CNBC: Why the most innovative people don’t use brainstorming meetings
• Fast Company: 10 New Rules For Brainstorming Without Alienating Introverts

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