At dinner last night, a colleague told me about a research project she is conducting. The focus is inter-disciplinary healthcare teams – and how they work together in emergency situations. Because in fast-paced, life threatening situations, teams need to communicate and coordinate with precision.

Everyone was excited about the project. Until people learned that their team would be filmed.

“We don’t want to be filmed.”
“Why?”
“We don’t want to make our mistakes that visible.”

This is a common predicament.

You want to improve. And you shy away from feedback.
Why?
Because you take feedback as judgment, criticism.
Rather than useful information.

This isn’t surprising. Many of us grew up in families and organizations where feedback was delivered as a form of judgment, criticism, or even punishment.

So, like the healthcare team, we’re gun shy. Fearful of revealing things we don’t want to see.

We back away rather than embracing the chance to increase our awareness of what we are actually doing.

The goal of feedback is to increase awareness of what you actually do.
Not to praise. Not to blame.
Just to increase your awareness of what is actually happening.
So you can see clearly how what you’re doing is working.

Remember the camera.
All it does is record what happens. And reveal what is so.

If you take what the camera (feedback)  reveals as praise or blame – you miss the benefits that feedback provides.
Nice as it feels to be praised. Bad as it feels to be blamed. Both make improvement more difficult.
Why?
Because, praise and blame are both forms of judgments. They filter reality.

When we engage in praise or blame it’s like putting a filter over the camera lens.
The filter makes it harder to see reality directly.
It filters the information. Colors it.
And obscures our awareness.

Obscuring direct awareness of what we actually do – is hardly a formula for improvement.
The key to improvement is awareness.
That’s what feedback is for. To deepen, clarify, and enhance awareness.

And that’s enough.

Because from direct, unfiltered awareness, improvement will naturally arise.
It’s the clarity of your awareness that facilitates improvement.
Full awareness naturally reveals what you can do differently to improve.

It’s the way we’re wired as human beings.
We’re wired to take in feedback and improve. Our brains and nervous system love learning. It’s our natural tendency.

But, our training, our education, and our organizational culture have dampened this natural learning proclivity. Dampened, not destroyed. It’s still wired into you.
So, you can get it back, easily.

Here’s how to start loving feedback again.
Think of an area of your work where you want different results.
Now, think about the result you want to create.
Your goal.

Then turn your attention to what you actually do in relationship to that goal.
Be like a camera. Notice without praise or blame. Just be aware.
Pay attention to what do you actually do.
Forget explaining why you do what you do.
Don’t bother interpreting or justifying what you do.
And certainly, don’t criticize it.

Develop your capacity to be aware of what you actually do – and notice how that awareness naturally reveals ways to improve.

Put this post into practice:

1.    What is an area in your work that you want to improve?

2.    What are you currently doing that is furthering your goals in that area?

3.    What are you currently doing that is blocking or limiting your goals?

4.    What will help you develop your awareness of what you’re actually doing without praise or blame?

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