Communicating Viable Feedback: The Collaborative Feedback Process is designed to evoke candid feedback while screening out tainted prejudice. To do this, the process does not rely on any one individual’s opinion but uses the principle of team synergy to generate more complete and accurate information. The process structure facilitates a discussion that answers ten fundamental questions on how an individual is perceived and provides a non-threatening mechanism for viable feedback.
Dierks Bentley sings an upbeat country/rock song lamenting a series of choices that cause problems. As he relates the scenario, he asks himself, “What was I thinkin?” \”What Was I Thinkin\” It is a common question people ask themselves when they have made choices that cause them problems. DB is a country singer, but his psychology is right on. Our actions grow out of our thoughts. Ralph Waldo Emerson said, “The ancestor of every action is a thought.”
Leaders repeatedly ask me: “Why do people act/behave as they do?” (The question is typically asked in the context of problematic and counter-productive actions.) But I would expand the question to, “Why do I act/behave as I do, for good or ill? What drives effective, productive actions? What drives ineffective, counter-productive actions?”
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In 1969 an English Rock Band, Led Zeppelin, released a song on their debut album entitled, “Communication Breakdown.”
The Lyrics: “Communication breakdown, it’s always the same, I’m having a nervous breakdown, drives me insane!” \”Communication Breakdown\”
As a college student, I actually listened to and enjoyed the music; and, as an activist, was critical of “The Man’s” failure to communicate. Today, my taste in music has changed and now in the position of being “The Man,” I find communication breakdowns annoying and as irritating as that sound clip. If I am no longer a heavy metal fan, why did I include the hyper-link?
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The higher one climbs on the organizational ladder, the more difficult it is to get people to tell you the truth. It is almost as if the rungs of the ladder have deflection shields or fine screen filters that divert open, candid feedback. Consequently, leaders repeatedly hear what they already know or what people perceive they want to hear.
Why is it so difficult to get useful, insightful feedback? Why is it so difficult to get people to be open and honest in their feedback to their leaders/supervisors?
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