When electric guitars were first introduced feedback was considered a negative, in the 1960s the Beatles are credited with being the first to use it in a recording on the song “I Feel Fine”. Since then guitar players have intentionally used feedback to create unique sounds and sustain notes longer that can be done with standard playing techniques. Jimi Hendrix was probably the biggest innovator, deliberately using it in many of his songs.
Feedback is achieved with a guitar by creating a feedback loop, or simply put. The vibration of the strings on the guitar go to the amplifier and back to the guitar. The trick is finding the resonating frequencies and there are many variables to achieve the feedback you want, including volume of guitar and amplifier, how close you are to the amplifier, type of guitar and amplifier you are using, and the room you are in makes a huge difference too. Jimi Hendrix during sound check would tape X’s on the stage so he knew the “sweet spots” to achieve the sound he wanted during the show.
As a guitar player feedback could be a love/hate relationship. Some nights I absolutely loved the tone of my guitar and amplifier and I would write down all the amplifier settings after the show, only to find at the next show I couldn’t replicate the sound I was getting. I would adjust and tweak and try to achieve the tone I wanted and some nights it was a moving target that was difficult to hit. Usually after adjusting volume knobs, gain, or even moving amplifiers I would be able to get the relationship to an acceptable level but it took some work.
Trying to create a feedback loop between managers and employees is important, it sets the tone of the organization. When management gives timely feedback to employees regarding their performance it allows them to adjust quickly and keep momentum moving forward. This will create the organizational tone we are looking for and lead to better outcomes.
When managers are constantly asking employees questions to gain context and promote further conversations it provides an energy similar to jet fuel in your organization promoting a growth mindset. The only way we are truly able to celebrate success and calibrate and fine tune performance is if we are having these conversations.
Employees are seeking quick and meaningful feedback on their performance from leadership, managers and peers. This is the only way they are able to gain insights to improve performance or to know if they are moving forward in the right direction. But let’s be honest, as humans we often find it hard to both give and receive feedback. We usually get defensive when someone is critical of us so in turn we find it hard to be critical of others because it often feels mean.
So how can we create a culture of feedback within our organization? I automatically think of situations from my life where quick and honest feedback is the standard. The easy one is sports.
In my youth I would be up to bat and hear my dad yell from the stands, “you’re dancing”, (he meant I was moving my feet) I often rocked my weight back and forth when I was a kid and got nervous up to bat….not exactly dancing but I knew what he meant and I stopped.
I would swing at a pitch and miss, a coach would say, “You pulled your head” or “you dropped your back shoulder” or “you were late”.
These comments never bothered me as a young player, they were well timed feedback that was intended to help me improve as a baseball player and often allowed me to make quick adjustments on the field. Now as a father and coach of a baseball obsessed seven year old I am constantly teaching and directing his development to improve his skills in the game he loves. He listens, he tries his best, he wants to be a great player but sometimes he gets defensive and chirps back at me, and my reply to him is usually something like…”be coachable” or “I’m not correcting you to be mean, I am trying to help you get better”.
I’ve heard it said that the advice we give others is often the advice we need to listen to ourselves. We all could be more coachable.
As our relationship has grown he is becoming much less defensive and not only does he accept what I am saying but he actively seeks it, now he will come to me randomly and say things like, “Dad, teach me something I don’t know about baseball”. Now he will make a mistake during a practice session and he will hurry and tell me what he did wrong so he doesn’t have to hear it from me.
I always try to praise the effort with him and not the outcome, for example if he correctly tries to backhand the baseball but misses I shower him with praise. When he makes an error or the wrong play I do my best to follow the advice a good friend and long time baseball coach told me, he said when a player makes a mistake to ask them, “What did you see there”. This usually starts a conversation without accusation, as the player can usually self-identify what they did wrong, they correct themselves or it opens up a clear path for you to explain what happened. The greatest athletes are constantly seeking out and expect feedback to improve their games and to be a great organization you need to do the same.
How do we create a similar environment at work so that feedback becomes the standard and not the acceptation? Research is showing that engagement from employees is heavily impacted by the feedback they are receiving or not receiving. A Gallup poll shows that, “80% of the employees who say they have received meaningful feedback in the past week are fully engaged”.
Managers need to think of themselves as coaches, switching to this mindset will allow them to be a feedback machine. Instead of falling into the trap of waiting until the next evaluation, managers need to be providing immediate feedback that is reflective of their current contribution and is meaningful. Giving feedback that is future based helps people make sure they are on the right trajectory, we should assume that everyone wants to get better, so telling an employee that they are heading in a positive direction or they need to make adjustments is actually the kind thing to do.
There are two traps we often fall into when giving feedback, both are overly vague. The first is the “asshole approach”, imagine that my baseball coach just yelled, “Your swing sucks” instead of “your dropping your shoulder”. That wouldn’t have given me any direction to correct what I was doing wrong and is also very attacking. Critical feedback should include a path towards better results and not just an attack.
The second is the “sugar coating approach” this approach is simply tip toeing around the problem, the polite person in all of us wants to deliver the message in the nicest way possible and when we do it this way the message isn’t often fully received. Had one of my poor at bats been met with, “its okay you tried your best” again that gives no direction towards better future at bats. As a younger leader this was my Achilles heel, this is how I tried to handle every issue and trust me it seldom works.
When giving feedback I just try to be myself, but I do force myself to be blunt and the sweet spot is to give a real and honest diagnoses of what you are seeing in a non attacking way with individualized direction that is aimed towards future performance.
This is the way I see the feedback loop when dealing with people:
1. Direction
Set the priorities and share your vision.
Express expectations.
2. Collection
What are the expected outputs.
How are the results measured.
3. Analyzation
Evaluate output.
Develop Understanding.
Use data to make decisions.
4. Communication
Immediate (ASAP).
Collaborative (Listen).
Share analyzation/observations.
5. Clarification
Future focused
Confirm that you have heard them.
Clear up any misunderstandings.
Ensure understanding.
6. Correction
Decide a new path of action with an end result.
Display trust in them and give them grace.
The great San Antonio Spurs coach Greg Popovich would follow honest feedback to a player with what he called “Magical Feedback”. He would say, “I’m giving you these comments because I have very high expectations and I know that you can reach them”. He believed this was the best way to get a positive and determined response from his players and my experience has been the same.
Just like different guitars, amplifiers and venues lead to different types of feedback so different people and situations. Sometimes it takes some tweaking and adjusting to produce the best results.
Questions of the week.
1. Am I giving my team enough feedback? Positive/Negative
2. How well do I know my team? Do I know each of their “Sweet Spots”
Challenge for this week
Be very intentional about the way you talk to your team. Consider the feedback loop. Be more intentional about giving them feedback and ask them for it.
Thoughts from others
“It takes humility to seek feedback. It takes wisdom to understand it, analyze it and appropriately act on it”
~Stephen Covey
“The best feedback is what we don’t want to hear”
~George Raveling
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