Honesty and candor
To be our best, we must be open beyond what our insticts
A necessary condition for capturing all the facts, issues, and nuances in complex conversation is full and open communication.
Without full and open communication, you have an incomplete picture, and thus operate on a less-than-ideal foundation for building the best products, or finding the best solutions.
Most people would agree off-handedly. And yet our fears and self-preservation instincts often cause us to hold back.
This topic is often compounded with honesty. But it’s something more. Holding back is not implicit dishonesty.
Candor, on the other hand, fits without lacking anything.
Candor: forthrightness and frankness.
Similar to honesty but improved because it’s not just about truthfulness but also a lack of reserve. And we can more easily admit to being weak in openness without feeling dishonest.
We must be candid with one another with our ideas, designs, solutions to maximize our potential.
Candor matters. It gives us creative and problem-solving superpowers.
“A hallmark of a healthy creative culture is its people feel free to share ideas, opinions, and criticisms.” — Ed Catmull
So how can we get better at it? Three ideas to try right away:
- Focus on solving the problem at hand, as opposed to getting credit, pleasing others, winning a debate, etc.
- It’s OK to talk about it. Call out the desire for self-preservation and that we don’t want to look dumb. Then overcome it.
- Share your idea along with your thought about it. E.g., “I’m thinking something here, but I think it’s not complete or something’s missing. That said, …” Very few ideas are fundementally useless! In the very least, it may spark interesting thoughts in others.
All ideas feel odd, incomplete, even nonsensical at first. Particularly when bouncing around in our head. But through feedback and iteration, they can get better. Let what is possible motivate you to strive for candor. We will build better solutions because of it.
