Comparison
Feedback techniques compared: SBI, the sandwich, and Radical Candor
May 1, 2026 · 2 min read
Three frameworks come up almost every time someone asks “how should I give feedback?” They aren’t equivalent and they aren’t interchangeable. Here’s the short version of each, plus where it works and where it fails.
SBI — Situation, Behavior, Impact
The shape: Describe the situation, name the specific behavior, name the impact. “In yesterday’s standup (situation), you cut Priya off mid-sentence twice (behavior). She didn’t speak again for the rest of the call (impact).” (Originated at the Center for Creative Leadership.)
Where it works: Specific, time-boxed events with observable behavior. Most day-to-day workplace feedback fits here.
Where it fails: Patterns that span months, or feedback about how someone shows up in general. SBI forces you to pick a single moment, which can feel reductive when the issue is cumulative.
The feedback sandwich
The shape: Compliment, critique, compliment. “You’re doing great work overall, but the deck went out without review, and I really appreciate your initiative.”
Where it works: Almost nowhere, once the recipient has seen the pattern. The opening compliment becomes a warning shot, the critique gets blurred, and the closing compliment reads as patronizing.
Where it fails: Everywhere else. If the feedback is real, it should stand on its own. If it can’t stand on its own, it probably wasn’t worth saying.
Radical Candor (Kim Scott)
The shape: Care personally, challenge directly. The framework’s quadrant model puts “obnoxious aggression” (challenge without care) and “ruinous empathy” (care without challenge) as the failure modes; “radical candor” sits in the corner where both are high.
Where it works: Established relationships where the recipient already trusts your intent. The “care personally” half of the equation has to be already-true; you can’t manufacture it in the moment.
Where it fails: With people you don’t yet have rapport with, or in cultures where directness reads as hostility regardless of warmth. Scott herself notes the framework needs translation for international and high-context teams.
When to use which
| Situation | Use |
|---|---|
| One-off observable event | SBI |
| Pattern across months | Radical Candor (with examples), or a sit-down conversation, not an email |
| Quick course-correction with a peer you trust | Radical Candor’s “challenge directly” half |
| Anyone, ever | Not the sandwich |
The pattern across all three: the techniques that work share specificity and directness. The technique that doesn’t share neither.
From the essay: Read the full piece →
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