“Feedback is a gift. Ideas are the currency of our next success. Let people see you value both feedback and ideas.” – Jim Trinka and Les Wallace
How alleviating it is when we are stressed or worried about certain tasks and then a disinterested stakeholder comes by and says something like "I think that's reasonably good"?
Getting honest & encouraging feedback is easily one of the best mood boosters and also makes us feel more fulfilled with the efforts we made. But at the same time, a lot of us often unfortunately just end up waiting for serendipity to see ourselves experience something like this, instead of inculcating it systematically in our lifestyle & work. Hopefully, this part of the audience feels differently after reading my blog on why feedback is a gift they should try to benefit from as much as possible without overemphasizing much about criticism, flattery, or ineffectiveness.
A lot of us feel uncomfortable, interrupting, annoying to others & our secret selves by actively gathering feedback from a group of people who we may know or not know. But that piece of qualitative feedback often can change directions & unfold new opportunities for improvement & growth for us. How lucky a filmmaker/artist would be if they can get feedback from a broad group of fans that their work is not as unique or creative as they thought it would turn out and give back some specific advice to improve upon. Or to our beloved national political leaders before they announce policies/bills that can make life difficult for many without much gains to the public. Wouldn't our work productivity also increase if we were to get constructive criticism more often and early on before we have invested too much of our effort into a project? It's simply disheartening to see that the work you toiled hard for is of little impact because certain pieces of insights could not be embedded into it at the right time. At that moment, it could be a blame game or "let's just happily move on" with the next project. Neither outcome may be productive or at least desirable. A timely, constructive, transparent feedback from a person whom we respect or a person who wants us to do well is so vital to success. A lot of times, we each perceive feedback as pulling the brakes on, but in reality, it is just like a map guiding us in the right direction minimizing wasted time/efforts.
Elegantly explained in this post, that why some employees continue to be more successful than others. This has been cited several times in studies, interviews & write-ups that how much more they are able to utilise this gift of feedback compared to their peers who could not be as successful. Of course, success is an arbitrary thing, which has a different connotation for every person. Of course, getting feedback from empathetic or others in good faith is always much preferable, sometimes it is luxury we can't have on that day. Shall you find yourself in the latter, there is still light on the other end of the tunnel.
“I think it’s very important to have a feedback loop, where you’re constantly thinking about what you’ve done and how you could be doing it better.”– Elon Musk
Unfortunately, sometimes we get delivered irrelevant, demoralising, & subjective observations packaged & sold as feedback. It might have happened to you and it has also happened with me at work/college/outdoors in past and just drove me to start avoiding feedback from certain people or maybe start taking less feedback on the whole, regardless of the people I am getting it from. This post, explains it emphatically on better ways to manage & deliver feedback. Each of us has something unique to offer to others and if this ability is used wisely and in good faith, it can lead to a more progressive and happier community around us, and doesn't every society desire happiness & growth for its natives?
"Criticism, like rain, should be gentle enough to nourish a man’s growth without destroying his roots." – Frank A. Clark
Social Learning Network
At Headstrt, we are building a homogenous, horizontal marketplace, in which everyone can also receive specific feedback from others who share some experience/expertise in that field or are from a specific demographics based on the preferences of the user. From personal experiences as well as from surveys, we have realized that outcome-driven, transparent, empathetic, and timely feedback from those, who have got relevant expertise/experiences and want us to succeed can certainly help us grow & learn. The best part, even the person involved in delivering feedback grows in the process, as they build new skills in the process and both sides gain from a new addition to their network. We would love to have you on board so that we can grow together as a symbiotic community faster.
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