The Economist November 20th 2021 Business 69R
eed hastings has built the culture
at Netflix around it. Ray Dalio made it
a founding principle at Bridgewater, a
successful investment fund. “Radical
candour” is the idea that bracing honesty
is the best way to run a business: no one
dances around the truth, and swifter
feedback improves performance.
Most firms rely on a messier doctrine.
People rarely say what they mean, but
hope that their meaning is nonetheless
clear. Think Britain, but with pay
cheques. To navigate this kind of work
place, you need a phrasebook. “I hear you”
Ostensible meaning: You're making a
legitimate point
Actual meaning: Be quiet “Let's discuss this offline”
Ostensible meaning: We shouldn’t waste
other people’s valuable time
Actual meaning: Let’s never speak of this
again (see also: “Let’s put a pin in it”)“We should all learn to walk in each
other’s shoes”
Ostensible meaning: Shared understand
ing results in better outcomes
Actual meaning: I need you to know that
my job is a living hell “I'm just curious...”
Ostensible meaning: I'd like to know why
you think that...
Actual meaning: ...because it makes no
sense to anyone else“It’s great to have started this con
versation”
Ostensible meaning: We've raised an
important issue here
Actual meaning: We've made absolutely
no progress“I wanted to keep you in the loop”
Ostensible meaning: I am informing you
of something minor
Actual meaning: I should have told you
this weeks ago“Do you have five minutes?”
Ostensible meaning: I have something
trivial to say
Actual meaning: You are in deep, deep
trouble“Let's handle this asynchronously”
Ostensible meaning: We'll each work on
this task in our own time
Actual meaning: I have to go to my Pilates
class now“It's on the product roadmap”
Ostensible meaning: It'll be done soon
Actual meaning: It won't be done soon “We're moving to an agile framework”
Ostensible meaning: We will work iter
atively in response to user feedback
Actual meaning: We’re literally planning
to go round in circles“It's a legacy tech stack”
Ostensible meaning: It’s a rat’s nest of old
and incompatible systems
Actual meaning: None of this is our fault“We are a platform business”
Ostensible meaning: We provide an
ecosystem in which others can interact
Actual meaning: Let’s pretend we are a
tech firm and see what happens to our
valuation (see also: “as a service”, “net
work effects” and “flywheels”) “We are planning for the metaverse”
Ostensible meaning: We are ready for a
shared, immersive digital world
Actual meaning: Ooh, look! A bandwag
on! (see also: “Web3”) “Bring your whole selves to work”
Ostensible meaning: Be authentic and
don’t be afraid to show vulnerability
Actual meaning: But not those bits of
your whole self, obviously In a world of radical candour, there
would be less need for translating. Most
managers and colleagues could indeed
be better at giving unvarnished feedback.
Some words and phrases are so opaque
they absorb all visible meaning.
But there is an awful lot to be said for
coded communication. Work is where
people learn to manage social inter
actions, not define them out of existence.
Transparency doesn’t necessarily travel
well across borders. And perpetual blunt
ness is draining; humans constantly
finesse and massage the messages they
send in order to avoid open conflict.
Radical candour is associated with firms
that pay very well. That may be because
this approach leads to greater success. It
may be because otherwise most people
wouldn’t put up with it. A short guide to what your colleagues really meanBartlebyThe business phrasebook
politicians want to impose an exit tax to
dissuade Shell from leaving.
Simplification looks like the handi
work of Andrew Mackenzie, Shell’s new
chairman, who oversaw a restructuring of
bhp, the AngloAustralian miner that he
previously ran. But it has a financial logic,
too. Under the dualshare structure, Shell’s
Dutch ashares were subject to a withhold
ing tax, which meant that only British b
shares could be bought back economically.
That capped buybacks at $2.5bn a quarter.
Oswald Clint of Bernstein, an investment
firm, says the maximum could now rise to
$5bn. More buybacks are a way of increas
ing cash returns to shareholders while
they see how Shell’s energytransition
strategy plays out. They may not guarantee
the company wins the argument against
Third Point. But they will buy it some time.
There are other potential sideeffects.
The Netherlands has dealt some harsh
blows to Shell recently. They include a
court judgment in The Hague ordering
Shell to reduce its worldwide emissions—
part of which the company is appealing
against (and which it says the planned
move won’t affect). A Dutch pension fund,abp, stunned Shell last month by saying it
would sell its shares in the firm as part of
efforts to divest from fossil fuels.
The British government cheered the re
location announcement. Kwasi Kwarteng,
the business secretary, called it “a clear
vote of confidence in the British economy”.
But the boon to global Britain could come
at a cost to global warming. In the coming
months the government is expected to de
cide whether to allow drilling of an oilfield
called Cambo off the coastofScotland—a
litmus test for the future ofNorthSea oil.
Cambo is partowned by Shell.n