After Feedback…Feed Forward!
In my last blog post, I encouraged you to make feedback your best friend, to help you see and hear things that you can’t yourself, and grow into the leader you were meant to be.
There is a great complimentary skill to this and it is called feed forward. In my opinion, Feedback and Feed Forward should be two sides of the same coin. The former helps me understand what went wrong in the past, and the latter helps me collaborate with others to set it right and create a better future for me and my circle of influence. The dynamite in Feed Forward is that it uses a collaborative strategy that can make these improvements a reality in a consistent and intentional way by using 4 simple steps.
How Feed Forward works
Like I said, it has 4 simple steps and two ground rules!
Step 1 – Pick the one behaviour from feedback you often receive that will make a significant positive difference in your life if it was rooted out. For example: I want to be better at collaborating with my team.
Step 2 – Pick one person who will benefit by your changed behaviour, then have a one-on-one conversation to state your decision to change this one behaviour. Example: You say: I want to be better at collaborating with my team.
Step 3 – Here is where you need to follow the first ground rule. Both of you should focus on the future with no mention of the past. Ask the person to offer two specific suggestions to help you change your selected behaviour. Example: Please tell me two things that would make you see me as a better collaborator to the team.
Step 4 – This step has the second ground rule. Listen attentively with no judgment or critique of the suggestion, and no positive or negative comment. All you are permitted to say is: Thank you.
You can repeat this process with as many people as you like. Take notes and list the suggestions, and pick which ones you want to begin working on.
Why Feed Forward can work like magic!
Feed Forward is invigorating because instead of focusing on who did what wrong to whom and when in the past, it focuses on who can help me get things right for a better future for us all.
It works because it gets those who have been affected by my behaviour on my side and working with me to help me change, therefore showing them that I mean business and that I value the relationship enough to work on it.
It works because helping people with ideas to make a better future is more productive than showing them how wrong they were in the past. This is because the best thing to do about a messed up past is to work on those things that messed it up and change our future.
It works because unlike feedback, feed forward focuses on listening instead of preparing to respond, and it builds patience because of the ground rule of not interrupting.
It works because the suggestions you get are not sterile, generic ideas from a life coach who is detached from your situation. These ideas come from the people that matter in your relationship and professional circle. These are people who know you, think about you, care about you and work with you. Mostly these ideas are priceless because they will impact not just you but the atmosphere in which these others are compelled to live when you share your breathing space.
And one more thing…
Feed forward creates a two-way traffic that is such a joy to see in the work place. It carries the spirit of collaboration where two colleagues help each other instead of someone in authority laying improvement plans. It helps us think like race car drivers who are taught: Look at the road, not at the wall.
I hope this inspires you to try feed forward as a follow up to making feedback your best friend! I began another feed forward while writing this post!