Nearly 75% of employees indicate that feedback doesn’t help them improve. Yet, feedback has been treated as one of the core rituals of leadership for decades. Annual reviews, 360s and performance reviews – all built on the idea that looking back helps people move forward.
In today’s environment of speed, complexity and volatility, leaders have learned a simple truth: the past is a poor predictor of the future.
That is where Feedforward comes in.
Feedback tends to pull people backward; it revisits what happened, triggers judgement and often leaves the receiver feeling evaluating rather than empowered.
Feedforward does the opposite; it opens the door to possibility. It focuses attention on what could happen next, not what went wrong before. Feedforward replaces evaluation with suggestion and replaces defensiveness with something to act upon.
Here are the top 5 reasons why leaders are adding Feedforward to their toolbox:
- We can’t change the past, we can change the future
- People tend to listen more attentively to feedforward than feedback
- Successful people love feedforward, because it helps them achieve their goals faster
- Feedforward tends to be much faster than feedback
- Feedforward creates momentum, because people walk away energized
Feedforward is always positive, simple, focused and fast. If you want to elevate your practice to an advanced level, here are 4 principles to make it even more powerful:
- Behavioral: does it use power verbs, is it an imperative?
- Observable: Can others actually witness the change?
- Constructive: is it framed positively and encouraging?
- Concise: is it brief enough to say 10 times a day?
The future is where potential can be unlocked and performance can be achieved. Feedforward is how leaders help their people get there.
If your next level depended on 1 Feedforward for yourself, what would it be?
Nearly 75% of employees indicate that feedback doesn’t help them improve. Yet, feedback has been treated as one of the core rituals of leadership for decades. Annual reviews, 360s and performance reviews – all built on the idea that looking back helps people move forward.
In today’s environment of speed, complexity and volatility, leaders have learned a simple truth: the past is a poor predictor of the future.
That is where Feedforward comes in.
Feedback tends to pull people backward; it revisits what happened, triggers judgement and often leaves the receiver feeling evaluating rather than empowered.
Feedforward does the opposite; it opens the door to possibility. It focuses attention on what could happen next, not what went wrong before. Feedforward replaces evaluation with suggestion and replaces defensiveness with something to act upon.
Here are the top 5 reasons why leaders are adding Feedforward to their toolbox:
- We can’t change the past, we can change the future
- People tend to listen more attentively to feedforward than feedback
- Successful people love feedforward, because it helps them achieve their goals faster
- Feedforward tends to be much faster than feedback
- Feedforward creates momentum, because people walk away energized
Feedforward is always positive, simple, focused and fast. If you want to elevate your practice to an advanced level, here are 4 principles to make it even more powerful:
- Behavioral: does it use power verbs, is it an imperative?
- Observable: Can others actually witness the change?
- Constructive: is it framed positively and encouraging?
- Concise: is it brief enough to say 10 times a day?
The future is where potential can be unlocked and performance can be achieved. Feedforward is how leaders help their people get there.
If your next level depended on 1 Feedforward for yourself, what would it be?
