Feedback is the breakfast of champions.
If you’re serious about personal growth, you’re sure to have not only heard the phrase but also attempted ways to get better at it. I certainly have over the years. Not only for myself wherein I actively seek feedback but also while giving it to others including my colleagues and my children. We even recently had a session in our office during which one of our Directors shared her experience of going from fearing feedback to fully embracing it and the transformational impact it has had on her growth.
Despite the good intentions of feedback, I’ve always had a niggling feeling that it doesn’t sit well with the receiver. On multiple occasions, I’ve had the experience of not liking feedback that someone has shared, mulling over it for days on end and desperately trying to avoid it affecting my self-esteem and self-confidence. This is even after the giver followed all the golden rules including being specific about the incident, criticising the behaviour and not the person, and sandwiching it with generous amounts of positive reinforcement. It’s not any easier for the giver either. Many of us tend to avoid difficult conversations as we don’t like hurting people’s feelings. We want to be liked.
The problem with feedback is that is activates the amygdala, the part of the brain that creates the flight, fight or freeze response. Your brain senses danger and pumps stress hormones. You worry about the mistake you have made but you can do nothing to change the situation. It is backward looking. We tend to ruminate. We may be paralysed to move forward.
So it’s clear that feedback can be awkward, embarrassing and painful for both the receiver and the giver.
I wonder if there’s another way?
There is.
It’s called feedforward.
I only discovered it last week in a SmartBrief newsletter though it has been around since 2007 when Marshall Goldsmith first coined the term.
“Successful people love getting ideas to help them achieve their goals. Successful people hate being proven wrong.” Marshall Goldsmith
What is feedforward?
“When we give feedforward, instead of rating and judging a person’s performance in the past, we focus on their development in the future. It is a bold approach to sharing feedback that can unleash the performance and potential of everyone around us. ” Joe Hirsch
Feedforward is about focusing on ideas for how we can get better on our goals.
We don’t dwell on the past. We quickly navigate to the future.
We are not judgemental. We Listen. We take notes. We learn as much as we can about the ideas that are being suggested for our improvement.
We apply the same principles when giving.
Joe Hirsch is a consultant who in his own words “helps organisations design and deliver feedback without fear.” He has expounded on Goldsmith’s original idea in his book “The Feedback Fix: Dump the Past, Embrace the Future and Lead the Way to Change.”
Joe has outlined six components to make feedforward effective.
REPAIR.
It regenerates talent.
This is about sharing ideas for growth in a way that the individual we are helping is re-energised.
It expands possibilities.
At Pixar they use a concept called “plussing.” So when critiquing work colleagues use some version of the phrase “That’s an interesting idea. What if…” to build on the idea.
It is particular.
Don’t wait till the end to make suggestions. Choose a few areas to comment on that can change the outcome. Don’t nitpick everything that’s wrong. Be involved every step of the way and keep suggesting ways to improve outcomes.
It is authentic.
The problem of cloaking criticism between doses of praise is that it can be forgotten and therefore not have the desired impact. You have to focus on solutions so that it is considered authentic by the receiver.
It has impact.
While feedback is meant to have an impact, it rarely does because most of the time is spent on discussing the past. Most people forget that good feedback must be future oriented in terms of ideas for improvement. This is why the phrase “feedforward” is a subtle but important nomenclature to aid the process.
It redefines group dynamics.
Getting input from different team members about ideas for improvement can have a superior impact. When you develop this culture in an organisation, employees become fearless and can achieve more.
How is feedforward different from feedback? This nifty infographic explains exactly how.
The main advantage of feedforward is “to stop seeing ourselves just as who we are, but who we are becoming”
Over to you now:
When was the last time you were given feedback? How did it make you feel? Were solutions for improvement discussed?
When was the last time you gave feedback? How did it make you feel? Did you provide solutions for improvement?
Where can you introduce the idea of feedforward in your life?