Without being politically correct (it’s not one of my forte anyway), and to be totally honest, I don’t think there is such a thing as positive feedback. To cover both side of the coin, there is no such thing as negative feedback.
Feedbacks are just observations, given at the end of significant actions or events. For those of you who are so inclined- yes, maybe you can qualify a feedback by the feelings it caused…I agree in form yet I don’t agree on principle.
Oh… never-mind!! They’re semantics anyway…let’s look at the pragmatics in action. Humour me a little here, ladies and gentlemen. In your mind’s eyes, go back to the last time when someone came up to you now, and say: “I have a feedback for you.”
I don’t know about you guys but I find myself becoming wary and bracing for impact of sort…even to the extent of adopting a defensive posture. Right, feedbacks are just observations but why do we respond negatively to the word “feedback”? IMO, the simple fact is that when an observation is of a positive nature, we call it a “praise” or “compliment”. “Feedback” has become a politically correct way to say a “negative comment”.
“Can we discuss some of my observations?” sounds so much better than “Can I give you some feedback?”
In coaching, we often encourage leaders, supervisors and managers to adopt a solution-focused approach. I’ll discuss this in more detail soon. Feedback does not have a big place in the look-ahead solution-focused approaches. Simply because the nature of feedBACK (the perception of the word) and the way it is given focuses on the PAST.
I came across a wonderful article by Marshall Goldsmith on FeedFOWARD and it includes a run-down of a feed-forward exercise that you can adapt as a manager, leader, supervisor, or even with your peers.
Take some time to partake Yezhong’s post on assumptions and so many other posts on rapport and communication.
In sharing your observation with someone you may want to test out the following:
· My experience of you is…(state the behavior, no judgement only observations)
· What’s good about your blah blah is…
· It’ll even be better when…(state better and more desired action)
January 7th, 2006 at 6:09 pm
I like that article you linked to on FeedForward. I like how it focuses on solutions and the future, just like the solution-focused coaching we do.
Recently I was guilty of a negative feedback session myself. After the session I felt crummy all over…it was nothing but a report of the negative behaviors of the other person, and it did nothing to make the other person want to learn or how to do better.
What it did do though was to help clear the disgruntment and clear the air, being able to express how I felt honestly. But I realize now that disgruntment is thinking based in the past, while suggestions is thinking based on the future.
Feedforward, definitely another tool going into my coaching toolbox.
January 8th, 2006 at 1:32 am
Once an engineer, always an engineer.
In terms of engineering terms, Feedforward means to take into account of measurable variables from the input and make correction so that you can get the desired outcome.
In a way, it means we have to be able to recognise what are required to give us the desired outcome in order to give Feedforward. I feel that the Assumption here is we know what can bring us to the outcome and this pretty much also draw from past experiences, isn’t it?
Feedback, on the other hand, means to look at the outcome 1st and then make adjustments to the inputs till we get our outcome. Think Ultimate Success Formula, haha. Therefore, we always have to look into the past in order to give Feedback.
Feedforward is really an essential tool that reinforces the self-esteem.
January 8th, 2006 at 6:50 am
With what Yezhong has commented, another point hits home. Any desired outcome must be a well-formed one. In the series of articles on Solution-focused Approach I intend to write over the next few weeks, I will touch on the importance of well-formedness of an outcome.
Feedforward is mostly a mentoring function to raise awareness. A necessary tool that can dovetail with a less non-directive coaching style.
Feedback is still a valid channel, just that it sometimes becomes too clumsy and cumbersome. It has a somewhat negative connotation to many unconscious minds. It also becomes a finger-pointing session when taken to the extreme and unregulated.
January 10th, 2006 at 1:58 am
I agree. When someone tells me they have feedback for me, i naturally assume its something that i’ve done that needs improvement. Although of late, i’ve come to judge it less and use my own discretion as to whether i want to make use of it or not. But in the past, if u had told me feedback, i would have tot, oh what the heck did i not do right this time round..