PSM W3 Reflection “Do you dare to look inside?”
I’ve been working my whole career in Human Resources, and I’ve had the opportunity to explore different areas of it (ie recruitment, compensation, engagement, culture, organisational design, etc.). But I must confess that since I first got more involved in Learning and Development topics something changed on me, and for the last 8 years of my career I’ve been digging deeper in how you can help people learn and perform better through experiences (not courses) that allow them to connect and care to what’s important (for them and the organisation) whilst at the same time adding value to those experiences with resources/tools/content for people to use at the moment of need (within the workflow).
One of those learning and development experiences that I’ve always considered fascinating is Feedback. I just did a quick Google search for “Feedback Techniques” and I got 319,000,000 results. I don’t know what you think about those results, but in my humble opinion, the first thing I could think of is that there is a lot out there regarding feedback. That’s a fact.
More personally during my career, I’ve been training / facilitating / rolling out different types of feedback initiatives. Online feedback, 360 group assessments, one to one techniques, etc. And in my current job, we are also experimenting with new feedback practices. So for me, giving and receiving feedback, talking about feedback, and also hearing every now and then that there is a “new technique for giving feedback” or a more “human way of doing it.” it’s kind of expected and normal.
Challenging one of my assumptions
What was not normal and expected was what happened this week. Every week in the course we have a different “Guest”. This week was Bryan Ungard, Chief Purpose Officer at Decurion, and we spoke about Deliberate Development Organisations and the great work he and his team are doing at Decurion.
A few years ago I had the opportunity to read the book “An Everyone Culture: Becoming a Deliberate Development Organisation”, and I must confess, as a passionate advocate of learning and development, that it was a massive eye-opener and provided me with really revolutionary ideas on what was possible in regards to human development and the impacts it could have in an organisation and in people’s life.
During our conversation last Monday, Bryan mentioned that the book had now almost 5 years, and I was very surprised when he said something like “almost all of the practices that appear on that book have evolved and adapted to something else” and I was like “ Ohh man… that’s cool. Imagine if when I read the book I was amazed to learn about what they were doing by then…now I am very curious to get to know more about what they are doing 5 years later”
And here is where everything changes, and my deep and very ingrained assumptions regarding feedback, and its value, gets massively challenged.
This is what Bryan said:
“We are questioning feedback at Decurion”
To be honest, I think I am still trying to process the meaning and impact of those 6 words, and I am sure that I will be thinking for a while about this as this potentially changes a lot of things, at least for me and the work I do.
On previous reflections, like for example here and here, I’ve shared more practical stuff I would do with the things I’ve been learning in the PSM course. But this time I think that I am in a position to share only initial reflections and questions regarding Bryan’s comment as I am still digesting a lot of this :)
Collective Flourishing
First of all, Bryan said “WE are questioning” he didn’t say “ I am questioning”. My point here is that the feeling I got is that Decurion is at such stages of mental development that they are all together as a company reflecting and questioning the value they get by practicing feedback.
In other words, I am assuming (but I might be wrong) that if the company is questioning something it’s because the great majority of its people has had the opportunity to be exposed and immersed in feedback practices that they feel empowered, informed and willing to get into deeper conversations about “is feedback right for us?” and “do we need to change?”.
I am assuming (again, I might be wrong with this) they’ve been practicing feedback collectively for a while and now they feel the need to get to the next level. They feel the need to explore if there is “something else”. They feel the need to challenge their own assumptions about feedback.
The main point here for me, and this really gives me hope, is that there are people out there thinking about different possible futures. Better futures. More human futures. Bryan spoke about “People Flourishing” (and not just people developing or learning).
So, if there is no feedback, what do we do? We look inside, within ourselves.
This was one of the questions that was a lot in my mind this week. If we allow ourselves to question the value of feedback, we are also allowing ourselves to think of an outcome that could be “We don’t believe anymore feedback is the right thing for us. We need something different.’’. In other words, we are allowing ourselves the possibility to change and adapt.
And this week I reconfirmed that the answer to that question lies inside, within ourselves, not outside us (ie someone giving us feedback, attending a training course, etc.).
The exercise this week was for each of us to complete an Immunity to Change Map (ITC). This is one of the tools presented in the DDO book and this is the main idea of it:
Creating your own map is a reflective process that allows you to begin to uncover the deeper psychological roots of your own limiting assumptions.
As I’ve experienced it this week, the whole point of the ITC map is to take ownership and become more aware and responsible for your behaviours, emotions and assumptions. By reflecting, and digging deeper, in your improvement goal, the behaviours that are working against it, your worries and fears, and finally on your deep assumptions, you are allowing yourself to get to know you better and to take control of your life.
This last part (taking control) for me its key, specially for the ones who works (or are in a journey towards) Self Managed Organisations. If you are not able to really understand yourself, what triggers you?, what are you afraid of?, or which assumptions are driving your behaviours? How are you going to be able to present yourself fully to others? How are you going to do great stuff at work? How are you going to grow if you don’t know where are you starting?.
For the last 2 years, I’ve been getting closer to Yoga and Meditation practices. Both disciplines stress the importance of taking the time to listen to what’s beneath your surface, connecting your inner and outer self, and becoming more aware of how both elements always interact with one another. These ancient practices have been doing this for long time. This week I was just very happy to learn that there are other tools, like the ITC Map, which could also help you to take control and get to know yourself better.
Last but not least. Please don’t get me wrong. I am not saying here that feedback is no longer useful or outdated. Actually, I will continue using it at work. I am only saying that the tool you decide to use will ultimately be dependant on how mentally developed and mature is your organisation, your team, your leaders and yourself.
Some companies today are mainly focusing on training courses, some others are in a journey to building feedback cultures, and a few others, as we found out this week, are already thinking about what’s next in human development.
And its seems that this next stage its all about people having the mindset, skills and tools to take personal responsibility to look inside and use all those inner insights as a personal compass to navigate this complex and always adapting world so they can live a happier and more purposeful life :)
Do you dare to look inside?
Thanks for reading!
