I usually tend to use whatever edition is available when I buy a book, and I never realized how much difference there might be from one revised edition to the other.

Usually, I would think that the difference lies mostly in corrections here and there. And so, to me, it doesn’t really make a big difference buying, for example, a used book versus a new one, because I feel like the additional value that I get from the latest one is not that much.

I was proved 100% wrong with Radical Candor.

This is a book that I wanted to read for a long, long time and eventually did, and I bought the revised edition. One of the cool things about the revised edition is that I was reading it on the Kindle, and at one point the Kindle would say to me, “Hey, you just finished the book. You can review it now.” But I was looking at the reading percentage, and I was at 86%, and I was like, “How is that even possible?”

Well, turns out the book had a lot of additional chapters after that. And these additional sections are, to me, absolutely worth it. They include, for example, feedback and replies, examples, and a section focused on performance reviews.

Personally, I found that those additional chapters were actually more helpful in grounding the whole Radical Candor concept than the book itself.

The book itself does a great job explaining what Radical Candor is, how it’s valuable, and how you should apply it.
For example I’m a big fan of the concept that you should first take feedback and then give it, not the other way around.

But I was already kind of sold on that concept.
What I missed was: how do we get from this beautiful concept to grounding it in real life? How does it translate? How do you face the challenges and move through them?

The additional chapters were absolute gold.

I’m showing them here mostly as a way to describe how much you can find in them and how much you can get out of the revised edition.

I suggest you take a look at it if it goes on sale and you have an old one because I think it will be worth it. To me, the afterword was actually the gold of the book itself.

And if you haven’t read Radical Candor, now’s the time.
For some people this is not new stuff, but even if it’s not new and you might agree, actually going through it is not that easy.

It takes some time, it takes some practice and I expect myself to practice for my whole life this whole thing.

Revised edition extra chapters 👇️

Afterword

• YOU
  • Improving using role plays and storytelling
  • Practice: What’s your story
  • Practice: The feedback Triangle
• SOLICIT CRITICISM FIRST
  • Kim’s Soliciting feedback story
• A GO-TO QUESTION YOU CAN ACTUALLY IMAGINE ASKING
  • Jason’s Story
  • Practice: Ask for a critique of your go-to questions
• FAQ
• EMBRACE THE DISCOMFORT
  • Practice: Count to six in your head
• LISTEN WITH THE INTENT TO UNDERSTAND, NOT TO REPLY
  • Practice: Listening
• MAKE LISTENING TANGIBLE: REWARD THE CANDOR
  • Practice: Make Listening Tangible
  • Practice: Reward criticism you disagree with
• BUILD IT INTO YOUR EXISTING SCHEDULE
  • Practice: Add soliciting feedback to the end of your 1:1 agenta
• PRAISE: FOCUS ON THE GOOD STUFF. REALLY
  • Jason’s Story
• APPLY THE SAME DISCIPLINE TO PRAISE THAT YOU DO TO CRITICISM
  • Praise Practice
• GAUGE CRITICISM
• DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION
• WHAT’S NEXT?

Bonus chapter: A radically candid performance review

• Intro
• ELEMENTS OF A FORMAL PERFOMANCE REVIEW PROCESS
  • Rating or no rating
  • Categories of ratings
  • Job ladders
  • Number of ratings
  • Language matters
  • Consequence of ratings
  • Distribution of ratings
  • Forced curve or no
  • Calibration of ratings
  • Frequency
  • “360-degree” performance process or relying on a manager’s unilateral assessment
  • Transparent or confidential
  • Lightweight or heavyweight
• CONCLUSION