Feedback: The Powerful Paradox by Jack Zenger and Joe Folkman Feedback: The Powerful Paradox How to improve feedback practices to ensure the greatest benefit for the giver and the receiver.
After analyzing the research that we and ences. Over one-half of the respondents others have conducted about prefer- were from outside of the United States. ences for giving and receiving feedback, we have discovered some fascinating Feedback: More or Less? conclusions. These conclusions come 1. The great majority of leaders were from 2,700 respondents to a Harvard twice as likely to give positive feed- Business Review blog we wrote in early back than they were to give correc- 2014. Respondents were given the tive or negative feedback. opportunity to participate in an online 2. Virtually every employee in the orga- survey which included questions about nization wanted more feedback. In both positive and negative feedback, our survey, almost two-thirds agreed and attitudes about feedback experi- that “my performance and possibili- ties for success in my career would
© 2019 Zenger Folkman 1 have not received any useful feedback in the past six months.1 Management practices have Group preferences evolved to a small degree, but they 1. Older leaders (baby boomers) pre- ferred giving positive feedback while have not kept pace with what has their millennial counterparts preferred not to give either positive or negative happened in society. feedback. 2. Women leaders preferred giving pos- itive feedback more than their male counterparts who, on average, avoid- ed it. 3. Male leaders disliked giving corrective have increased substantially if I had been more helpful in their career. feedback even more than their female been given more feedback.” 3. Virtually all (94 percent) feedback counterparts. 3. 64 percent of respondents said, “[I recipients stated that corrective 4. Male leaders preferred receiving am] not praised or recognized too feedback improves their performance corrective feedback slightly more than much.” when it is presented well. women leaders. 4. 63 percent of recipients felt that they What type of feedback is most get substantially more positive feed- Complexity of feedback effective? back than negative feedback. The research findings suggest that giving 1. About half of leaders tended to avoid 5. While 62 percent of leaders rated and receiving feedback in organizations giving positive feedback, while the themselves as highly effective at pro- is a complex and unpredictable process. other half described themselves as viding others with honest, straightfor- Our intent in this paper is to turn the spot- comfortable giving positive feedback. ward feedback, other research reports light of solid research onto the topic, with 2. Recipients of feedback said they pre- that 60 percent of employees say they
ferred receiving corrective feedback. They were evenly split on whether
positive or negative feedback had 1Cornerstone on Demand, Employee Report, Nov. 2012
2 the goal of having it shape and improve principles at work that could be helpful to vide effective feedback. This is a your feedback practices. anyone who is thinking of providing feed- learned skill, not an inborn gift. back to someone else. Feedback could be described as any con- Assumptions that impact giving versation designed to convey a message Barriers to providing feedback feedback that one person believes to be important We could create a seemingly endless list We asked people which method had been for another person to hear. Yet with that of forces at work that can get in the way most helpful for them in their career. Was as the fundamental premise driving the of feedback happening, such as: it receiving positive feedback or accepting dialogue, there are many variables. 1. A manager’s personality can make it corrective feedback? We found that 52.5 • Is the message being delivered pri- easier or harder. Those who are intro- percent indicated that negative feedback marily positive or is it corrective? verted find feedback a difficult behav- was more helpful while the remaining 47.5 • Does presumably positive feedback ior to practice. percent said that it was positive feedback. sometimes cause negative outcomes? 2. Our research has shown that a man- It appears the world is divided roughly in • Does it matter if the message is deliv- ager’s level of self-confidence is a half on this issue. ered in a constructive, caring way, or strong predictor of a willingness to can it be delivered coldly? provide corrective feedback to a direct Those choosing corrective feedback • How important is the nature of the re- report. This group has adopted the philosophy, lationship between the two individuals 3. Managers are afraid of making things “What doesn’t kill you makes you stron- involved? worse. They are aware that feedback ger.” They believe that corrective feedback • Are we primarily describing interac- is akin to a powerful medicine in a is the key to success. tions between managers and their di- doctor’s bag of options. Many drugs • 70 percent indicated that “My perfor- rect reports, or does this encompass have an enormous power to heal or mance and possibilities for success all conversations designed to convey to hurt. It all depends on how carefully in my career would have increased an important message? they are administered. substantially if I had been given more 4. Employees, especially those who are feedback.” It feels as if there are a nearly infinite not performing well, often artfully elude • 96 percent agreed with the statement, number of dimensions that could be con- any opportunity for the manager to “Corrective feedback, if delivered sidered. We believe, however, that there give them corrective feedback. appropriately, is effective at improving are some fundamental conclusions and 5. Managers often lack the skill to pro- performance.”
© 2019 Zenger Folkman 3 • These individuals were 11 times more feedback with some corrective sug- This isn’t to say that corrective feedback likely to say that they preferred correc- gestions.” isn’t necessary. People need to know the tive over positive feedback. • 67 percent said that the best man- boundaries. They need the confirmation • Many within this group viewed positive agers “deliver much more feedback, that what they did was incorrect. Some- feedback as mostly fluff, not very help- praise, and recognition than negative times calling attention to the issue is the ful, and something the weak prefer. feedback.” catalyst needed for a change to occur. • 72 percent said a leader can be most The best leaders deliver both kinds of influential in their career by “Giving What was fascinating in our research feedback. The art is in the delivery and corrective feedback and advice when was how much this attitude about which timing of the feedback so that it will be mistakes are made.” kind of feedback was most helpful in your most effective for the recipient. career impacted people’s ability to give Many people in this group have an internal and receive feedback. The reality is both Importance of asking for feedback fear that they may be doing something positive and negative feedback are abso- Our research from over 50,000 leaders stupid that is ruining their career. They lutely essential. Each works well at differ- clearly shows that those leaders who ask hold the belief that everyone else is aware ent times with different people. for feedback are perceived more positively of this issue and no one, including their than those who simply are good at giving manager, is willing to talk straight to them. Most people know when they are doing feedback. Obviously, the ideal is to do something wrong. Only 12 percent of the both. We believe that a manager can serve Those choosing positive feedback people in our research said that they were as an excellent role model in the process This group feels that constantly giving oth- surprised by negative or corrective feed- of seeking feedback. Creating a culture ers corrective feedback creates a demor- back. There is an old Vermont farmer joke where one feels safe to openly share and alized work environment where the role of about a salesperson who is trying to get receive feedback ideally begins with the a leader is to catch people doing things the farmer to purchase the Encyclopedia manager taking the lead and setting the wrong. Yet those who selected positive of Better Farming. The farmer looks at the example of being eager to receive it. feedback are not suggesting totally aban- salesperson and says, “I already know doning any negative feedback. how to be a better farmer; it’s not the Importance of giving feedback • When asked what employees need knowing I need, it’s the doing.” The willingness of a manager to provide most, 75 percent said “Mostly positive feedback to direct reports is a powerful way to increase employee engagement
4 and commitment. Those employees who If someone has been told that they are ing” or “improving” trajectory. Parents are receive the least are the least engaged. extremely intelligent, highly creative, or much better advised to praise a child’s Receiving corrective feedback from a an exceptional athlete, then much of their hard work, tenacity, and willingness to manager produces a much higher level effort can be focused on preserving that overcome hurdles. This reinforces that of engagement than receiving none at image and self-concept. The person who they may not be effective at some skill at all. Receiving the right kind of positive possesses a proving mindset is less apt this moment in time, but that it is clearly feedback has a huge impact on improv- to take on a more difficult challenge that attainable. It just hasn’t been attained ing employee productivity and increasing may bring about failure. Instead, they will quite yet. engagement. repeat the behaviors and practices that succeeded in the past. The same principle applies to a senior Feedback is the cornerstone skill under- manager telling an employee that they are lying a number of leadership responsibil- The individual with an improving mind- highly creative or an extremely intelligent ities. It is central to conducting effective set, on the other hand, believes that analyst. That message encourages these performance reviews. Providing feedback intelligence, creativity, athletic ability, and individuals to only take on assignments is a critical ingredient of good coaching. virtually any skill can be acquired. Armed that will reinforce the way they are cur- It is absolutely necessary for the imple- with this “improving” mindset they are far rently perceived. They will seek to prove mentation of a performance management more apt to take on challenging tasks and that the image they have in the minds of system. It is extremely helpful in inspiring seek out opportunities to continually learn others is a correct one and avoid anything and motivating high performance in the and develop. that would jeopardize that. workplace. Dweck’s research shows that parents and If, on the other hand, the senior manager How to give positive feedback teachers make a mistake telling a child had provided positive reinforcement about Not all praise and positive reinforcement that they are smart or talented. That only the hard work exhibited (the willingness to is helpful. In fact, some feedback can leads them to a “proving” mindset which explore differing approaches or the flexibil- do more harm than good. Carol Dweck, limits their future performance. Dweck’s ity with which they approached the task) a professor of psychology at Stanford research showed that a single sentence of then that reinforces a continual desire to University, has noted people basically feedback to young students who had just learn and develop and take on ever more have one of two differing mindsets. She completed an exercise of answering 10 difficult assignments. This may sound like labels these as “proving” or “improving.” questions could set them off on a “prov-
© 2019 Zenger Folkman 5 a small distinction, but it has huge long- music. In a movie you invariably know there is a plan. In the case of correc- term consequences. how serious something is or is about tive feedback, the plan could include to become by the background music. you calmly and objectively describing How to give corrective feedback The giver of feedback can instantly what’s happened or the receiver’s Assume for a moment that a manager signal whether this discussion is trivial behavior that concerns you. Make has a message that would be helpful for or titanic, career threatening or merely it short. Then ask for the receiver’s a direct report to understand. It may be casual observations. The background perspective. The second phase of observations about how this individual music is the expression on your face, the plan involves you describing how is going about their work. It could be a the tone of your voice, and the words you’d like things to be going forward, message about something they are not of your quick introduction. These cali- or the changes you’d like to see in doing that should not be overlooked. It brate the discussion for the receiver. behavior. Zenger Folkman has devel- could be some observations about why a oped a template for such discussions. project is experiencing failure. The manag- In no way are we suggesting that the We refer to it as the FUEL model. It er, because of their prior experience, can giver of feedback should minimize the is explained in detail in the book, The see the causes for failure which the direct seriousness of a discussion if it is in- Extraordinary Coach, by Zenger and report does not yet comprehend. tended to and deserves to be serious. Stinnett.2 But we are suggesting that on those These are all extremely different conver- occasions when it is not something 3. Don’t tackle multiple topics in one sations. We submit that there are some that the receiver need worry about, discussion. Because most of us tend things that can be done to ensure that that you instantly make that clear. Our to put off such conversations, there is each of these conversations has a positive brains are programmed to respond a temptation to collect several issues outcome, while at the same time mini- one way to perceived threats and a and to talk about them all at once. mizing the amount of stress or needless totally different way to something that Don’t do that. Stick with one or two angst that is felt by the person on the promises to be positive. topics. Save the others for another receiving end. day. 2. Make and follow a plan. Like every- Here are some suggestions that may help thing else in life, things go better when the process: 1. Immediately play the background 2Zenger, John H. and Stinnett, Kathleen, The Extraordinary Coach, McGraw-Hill, New York, 2010
6 4. Rehearse any serious discussion. If 5. Treat the receiver with an extra mea- Conclusions this intended feedback session in- sure of respect. One of the bedrock Feedback can truly be a gift. But the gifts volves a potentially delicate, emotional principles of all good leadership is to we enjoy the most are the ones chosen by issue, then all the more reason to re- treat others with respect. It is especial- the giver because they will benefit us and hearse what you’re going to say. That ly important to practice this when you make us better. In order for feedback to rehearsal could be with someone from provide someone with corrective feed- have positive outcomes, it must meet that HR, or it could be you sitting at your back. Asking rather than telling is a standard. The receiver needs to believe desk going through it mentally. Even mark of respect. Being calm and fac- that it was done to be helpful and with the mental rehearsal lets you “listen” to tual is showing respect. Not insisting receiver’s benefit in mind. the words you intend to say. Frequent- that the issue be resolved this minute, ly you’ll immediately know, “There’s a but giving the other person time to better way to say that,” or “That won’t digest the message and decide what be received very well.” to do is a further mark of respect.
Coaching is one of the best ways to achieve this, creating greater interaction between leaders and direct reports, and thereby aligning goals and progress.
© 2019 Zenger Folkman 7 About Us Zenger Folkman relentlessly seeks to rise above the inconsistent, and sometimes misleading, nature of popular leadership philosophies and beliefs brought on by opinion. The discipline of leadership and those who pursue it deserve better. Our most valuable asset is the expertise of combining hard data and statistical analysis with logical explanations and actionable application that help individual leaders thrive and organizations succeed.
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