alivirgo Deliver Constructive Critical Feedback (The SBI Radical Candor Framework) (AI Skill)
Overview
Delivering tough feedback is one of the hardest parts of management. People usually fail in one of two ways:
- Ruinous Empathy: Using a confusing "feedback sandwich" ("Great job on the slides! Your code was broken and late. But love your energy!") that obscures the actual problem.
- Obnoxious Aggression: Attacking the person's character ("You are careless and unreliable"), triggering immediate defensiveness and hostility.
The Situation-Behavior-Impact (SBI) Radical Candor Protocol separates the person from the observable behavior, providing clear, compassionate, and actionable feedback.
The SBI Radical Candor Architecture
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ The SBI Feedback Framework │
│ │
│ 1. SITUATION ──► The exact time & place (Objective) │
│ 2. BEHAVIOR ──► The specific observable action (No labels)│
│ 3. IMPACT ──► The measurable outcome on team/client │
│ 4. NEXT STEP ──► Collaborative action plan forward │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
Master Feedback Prompt Templates
Pattern 1: The SBI Constructive Feedback Generator
Use for 1-on-1s, performance reviews, or peer feedback:
I need to give tough feedback to a team member:
- **Context / Situation**: [e.g. During yesterday's sprint demo with the client]
- **What happened (Raw observation)**: [e.g. They hadn't tested the checkout flow beforehand and it crashed live]
- **Impact**: [e.g. Client lost confidence, delayed contract signing by 1 week]
- **My Relationship Goal**: [e.g. Keep them motivated, but make it 100% clear this cannot happen again]
Generate a spoken script for our 1-on-1 following the **Situation-Behavior-Impact (SBI)** model:
- Tone: Radical Candor (Direct, supportive, non-accusatory).
- Focus strictly on the process flaw (pre-demo testing protocol) rather than personal capability.
- Under 120 words.
Real-World Case Study
Scenario: Addressing Chronic Missed Deadlines
Raw Manager Frustration (Attacking Character)
"You've been missing deadlines on the last 3 sprints. It feels like you don't care about this project and the rest of the team is tired of picking up your slack." ❌ (Triggers defensive fight-or-flight; employee feels attacked).
SBI Radically Candid Script (Constructive & Clear)
"Alex, I want to talk about sprint delivery because I care about your growth here.
Over the last three sprints, pull requests were submitted on Friday afternoon past our Wednesday code freeze deadline. When PRs come in late, the QA team has to work over the weekend and our release gets pushed back.
I want to understand what's getting in the way - whether it's underestimating ticket scope or unexpected blockers. Let's look at your current backlog together and set up daily 10-minute check-ins so we hit next week's deadline with zero stress."
✅ (Objective, focuses on process & impact, offers collaborative support).
Summary Best Practices
- Ban Character Labels: Never say "You are lazy/careless/unprofessional"; say "In Tuesday's meeting, speaking over colleagues caused X".
- Focus on the Future: Spend 20% of the conversation on what happened and 80% on the actionable fix.