Feedback isn’t a “gift”.
Feedback is a powerful tool that can propel your people, teams, and organization to new heights. However, it’s not enough to state that “feedback is a gift” or provide annual performance reviews. Companies must develop better models, frameworks, systems, and training to get more leverage from feedback as an organizational system and framework.
Many authors have written about the importance of feedback, including Kim Scott in “Radical Candor,” Ed Catmull in “Creativity Inc.,” and Susan Craig Scott in “Fierce Conversations.” However, simply reading these books isn’t enough to create a culture of good feedback in your company. It takes work from leaders and managers to lean into conflict, create healthy tension, and create better outcomes for the company and its employees.
Companies often have core culture statements that include feedback but fail to teach people the difference between helpful and unhelpful feedback. This distinction is crucial because it can disproportionately impact the company’s trajectory. Useless, demotivating, and poor feedback wastes people’s time and creates a culture of silence where fear-based leadership takes hold.
Developing feedback skills requires practice and a willingness to evaluate your beliefs to create a strong culture and system of feedback. If your existing feedback system only comes once a year at a performance…
