Build your challenge network

Honest feedback is rare. Not because people don't have opinions, but because most of us never make it easy for them to share those opinions with us. We surround ourselves with people who reassure us, then wonder why we keep making the same mistakes.

A challenge network solves that problem. It's a small group of people you deliberately recruit to tell you what you need to hear. The idea comes from organisational psychologist Adam Grant, who argues that the people who grow fastest at work aren't the ones who avoid criticism. They're the ones who've built systems to seek it out.

This guide walks you through how to do that. It covers the two sides of the relationship: what you're asking your challenge network to commit to, and what you're committing to in return. Because this only works if both people know what they're agreeing to. It also includes a short framework for choosing the right people and a script you can use almost verbatim to start the conversation.

The guide is designed to be shared. Page two works as a standalone invitation. Send it directly to someone you'd like in your network so they understand what they're agreeing to before they say yes.

Download it, use page one as your reference, and send page two to the people you trust most to be honest with you.

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