Editorial
A former client once said to me, "We weaponize feedback." That sentence made a profound and lasting impression on me. They were in the midst of a culture transformation and not in a superficial way — they were committed. New CEO, losing market share, lagging innovation, lackluster product development … they were at risk of losing their position as industry leader.
Internally, business units competed with one another. No surprise, as their measurement, rewards and recognition systems amplified the individual, not the team. It was the perfect manifestation of the age-old adage, “Be careful what you ask for, you just might get it.” The environment and behaviors could have been the basis for the corporate version of Game of Thrones. Winter wasn’t just coming — it was there.
The company was Microsoft.
Microsoft's transformation has been widely documented in interviews, keynotes, books and articles written by its CEO, Satya Nadella. I’ve long admired the courage it took for Microsoft to look itself in the mirror and acknowledge it had to change. But what surprised me the most was the company's explicit and unwavering commitment to growth mindset.
What Effective Developmental Feedback Looks Like
If you’re unfamiliar with growth mindset, read anything by Dr. Carol Dweck of Stanford University. Essentially, growth mindset supports the belief (and the biology) that humans never stop learning, and that continuous growth is grounded in experimentation, learning from mistakes and a willingness to learn from others. The core of growth mindset is progressive improvement driven by self-reflection, ongoing practice and feedback from others. This feedback is developmental in nature, not evaluative against performance objectives. The hallmark of effective development feedback is the growth and progress of the recipient, not a final measurement of someone succeeding or failing, winning or losing.
When it comes to feedback, trust should be a two-way street, but that mutual trust can take time. Being the recipient of feedback often triggers a wave of anxiety and discomfort for at least two reasons. First, it lacks certainty: there’s no guarantee of the message about to be delivered. Second and frequently, the feedback feels evaluative (focused on task performance) and not developmental (focused on individual progress).
So … instead of waiting on others to offer feedback, another option is to proactively solicit it for yourself. By asking others to share their perspectives with you, it gives you the opportunity to frame the feedback as developmental. It also removes the potentially awkward barrier of requiring the other person to initiate the conversation. Often when asking someone else for feedback, there is an increased tendency for them to begin with something positive, which in turn primes us to be move receptive to constructive feedback as well.
To initiate feedback from someone else, try (some version) of these three simple phrases:
- I would appreciate your guidance to help me grow professionally.
- I’m really interested in getting better at “X” (your desired skill).
- What feedback can you share that would help me grow and improve?
By modeling your willingness and desire to genuinely listen to others, you will likely be asked for feedback in return. Even better, you build a trusting relationship at the same time.
Related Article: Ready, Set, Grow: How to Build a Culture of Learning at Your Organization
Additional Perspective
Mara Gerstein is the CEO and cofounder of Loupe.
Feedback is the backbone of high-performing teams. A culture of feedback is a must-have to ensure long-term organizational success and adaptability. Unfortunately, the reality is most people fear asking for feedback, are unskilled at giving it, and don’t know what to do with it once received. Only a third of employees report getting the feedback they need to develop on the job. So why are we not providing employees with the feedback tools and resources needed to optimize their well-being and performance?
My observation is feedback for evaluation is regularly used to protect organizations against the legal liabilities associated with hiring, firing and compensation decisions. With legal implications being the driver, evaluative feedback gets prioritized as a “must have.” Not wanting to invest time and resources in two feedback systems, organizations repurpose evaluative feedback for employee development. True developmental feedback gets shunted to the category of a “nice to have,” leaving employees frustrated with their lack of professional growth.
The good news is transforming to a feedback culture is possible, and more and more companies are doing it. Here are three essential steps:
Empower a visible champion. Transforming to a feedback culture takes time and money, so you will need a leader who can overcome organizational reticence to make shorter term investments for longer term payoff.
This leader …
- understands best practices and appreciates the importance of feedback.
- can define related problems that feedback can help solve.
- has decision making power.
- has influence to drive leadership alignment.
Create psychologically safe forums for feedback exchange and behavior change following these principles:
- Separate developmental feedback from formal evaluation processes. Give people tools to receive private feedback that is disconnected from the politics of performance reviews.
- Empower employees to solicit their own feedback and give them agency over the process. Let them decide what questions to ask and from whom to seek feedback. Allow them to lead making sense of their feedback and deciding how to prioritize behavior change.
- Teach the value of psychological safety — environments in which people don’t fear punishment for asking questions, sharing ideas or making thoughtful mistakes. In addition to training, encourage employees to share feedback with each other, engage in behavior change experiments, and exchange feedback on how they are progressing.
Take culture change seriously and apply change management techniques. Feedback innovation (like any innovation) typically requires change management. The processes aren’t one size fits all, but there are trainings, platforms and frameworks to foster new norms and expectations that are right for any organization. Especially when initiatives challenge the status quo, be clear about how the change supports the core values. Always collect data to show outcomes and iterate your processes for ongoing improvements.
Learn how you can join our contributor community.
