an artifact worth having: shorthand for minor, just-double-checking, having-your-back feedback
In Radical Candor, Kim Scott aims to de-risk and simplify feedback with the example of a coworker whose fly is down. (Or, one who has some v visible arugula in their teeth, if you prefer that version). A good teammate conveys this information to the one with the fly down or spinach in their smile, ideally in a direct and discreet way. A lesser teammate withholds the information and lets their colleague look like a mess.
The zipper, the spinach - these situations are relatively low stakes. There’s no grand moral drama, no big strategic implications at issue. A small thing could be made better with some awareness and quick action.
Yet, so very often, we let the lettuce stay stuck in our teammate’s teeth. We hope someone else has the gumption to say, “Psst - your fly!”
As a leader and culture builder, it can be useful to have a name for this category of low-stakes feedback - an acronym, a symbol, a catchprase. Here’s a clumsy one: “HYB” - “having your back”. (You’ll probably think of something better if you try.)
People can use that name when they’re giving this species of feedback. The name puts the receiver of the feedback at ease (“oh, this is going to be a small-scale thing; I’m not in big trouble”) and it lends the giver a modicum of courage, or at least some social cover, so that they actually give the feedback in the first place (“I’m not being a scold, I’m just having your back.”)
Just a quick HYB - you’ve got spinach in your teeth.
-eric
