Feedback (and Other Dirty Words): Why We Fear It, How to Fix It

Praise for Feedback (and Other Dirty Words)

Feedback can be tough to give (and receive!) but is so core to how we drive performance and improve as humans. This book offers practical frameworks and tools to consider as you leverage feedback to build relationships and improve results!

—Jesse Schlueter, Vice President of Learning and Leadership, Nordstrom

An enjoyable and compelling read, this book shows leaders how to set the tone for the growth mindset to flourish. Packed with tips, it shows readers an easier path to hearing how they are doing, sharing what they see in others, and inspiring everyone to thrive.

—Elizabeth Hall, Vice President, Employee Experience, Cambia Health Solutions

"The way we work is changing. The traditional top-down hierarchal approach to management has been replaced by a collaborative work environment where employees thrive on real-time, continuous feedback from managers. In Feedback (and Other Dirty Words), Chandler and Grealish offer business leaders an informative and easy-to-follow guide for transforming their work culture into one where employees no longer fear feedback but flourish with it."

—Derek Irvine, Senior Vice President, Client Strategy and Consulting, Workhuman

"Like it or probably not, people don’t grow without feedback. Can you deliver feedback without closing people down? Chandler and Grealish give the tools and methods for making feedback feel good. Not only will Feedback (and Other Dirty Words) help you with your next performance conversation, it can transform your company culture to be more agile and enjoyable."

—Marcia Reynolds, PsyD, Past President, International Coach Federation, and author of The Discomfort Zone

This quick read highlights real benefits that can follow strong feedback practices while simultaneously helping to remove the stigma associated with giving and receiving feedback—important topics for leaders.

—Roy Bivens, author of Experiencing Improvement; Managing Partner, Orion Advisory; and CEO, Diamond Orthopedic

"What do successful leaders and organizations have in common? A culture where feedback is welcomed and not feared and trust sits at the center. Feedback (and other Dirty Words) shows you how to get there. Both witty and enlightening! Read this . . . you’ll be entertained as much as you are informed."

—Christopher J. Cowan, MEd, FABC, Senior Vice President, Human Resources, Christiana Care Health System

At last! A concise, practical, actionable contribution to the sticky topic of feedback. In this breakthrough book, M. Tamra Chandler and Laura Grealish offer layers of useful information and support for changing our existing paradigms about feedback. This book details simple and powerful methods, backed by science, and everyday examples that the reader can relate to. The authors’ wealth of experience shows up in this compelling and digestible tool box.

—Beatrice W. Hansen, MSSW, PCC, Principal, Presence-Based Coaching

This very useful book teaches us that feedback is the key to all activities where we interact with others, especially at work. The lessons here show us how to do it simply and well.

—Peter Cappelli, George W. Taylor Professor of Management and Director, Center for Human Resources, The Wharton School, and Professor of Education, University of Pennsylvania

There is no leadership practice more effective than well done feedback to drive high performance through people. It is the equivalent of a leader superpower. Yet very few have mastered it. How could this power shortage be so severe and stubbornly stuck? What will it take to fix it? Read this clever and awesomely helpful book that digs deep to find the science and reasons behind this power failure, to fully appreciate the proven impact of good feedback, and, importantly, to find many useful and practical strategies and tactics for making your own feedback power super.

—Jeannie Coyle, former Senior Vice President of Human Resources, American Express, and coauthor of Make Talent Your Business

Thoughtful feedback is both a gift and a critical data point along anyone’s journey to their own integrity—and the integrity of any organization. If you want to unleash a powerful and priceless resource, immerse yourself in this book and all that it teaches.

—Luke Timmins, Head of Engineering, Bungie

FEEDBACK

(and Other Dirty Words)

OTHER BOOKS BY M. TAMRA CHANDLER

How Performance Management Is Killing Performance—and What to Do about It

FEEDBACK

(and Other Dirty Words)

Why We Fear It, How to Fix It

M. TAMRA CHANDLER

with LAURA DOWLING GREALISH

Feedback (and Other Dirty Words)

Copyright © 2019 by M. Tamra Chandler

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law. For permission requests, write to the publisher, addressed Attention: Permissions Coordinator, at the address below.

Ordering information for print editions

Quantity sales. Special discounts are available on quantity purchases by corporations, associations, and others. For details, contact the Special Sales Department at the Berrett-Koehler address above.

Individual sales. Berrett-Koehler publications are available through most bookstores. They can also be ordered directly from Berrett-Koehler: Tel: (800) 929-2929; Fax: (802) 864-7626; www.bkconnection.com

Orders for college textbook/course adoption use. Please contact Berrett-Koehler: Tel: (800) 929-2929; Fax: (802) 864-7626.

Distributed to the U.S. trade and internationally by Penguin Random House Publisher Services.

Berrett-Koehler and the BK logo are registered trademarks of Berrett-Koehler Publishers, Inc.

First Edition

Paperback print edition ISBN 978-1-5230-8522-4

PDF e-book ISBN 978-1-5230-8523-1

IDPF e-book ISBN 978-1-5230-8524-8

Digital audio ISBN 978-1-5230-8526-2

2019-1

Set in A Caslon Pro by Westchester Publishing Services. Text designer: Jordan Wannemacher. Cover designer: Logan Grealish. Illustrations: Ivy Mosier and Logan Grealish.

For Martha Marie Chandler,

who never hesitated to share frequent and focused feedback.

Mom, you are greatly missed.

CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION: WE’VE GOT WORK TO DO

1. FEEDBACK HAS A BRANDING PROBLEM

2. OUR MOVEMENT TO FIX FEEDBACK

3. WHAT SCIENCE TELLS US

4. A FRESH START FOR FEEDBACK

5. THE FOUNDATIONS OF FIXING FEEDBACK

6. SEEKING FEEDBACK

7. RECEIVING FEEDBACK

8. EXTENDING FEEDBACK

9. FEEDBACK SCENARIOS FOR THE REAL WORLD

10. IMAGINE

Notes

Acknowledgments

Index

About the Authors

INTRODUCTION

WE’VE GOT WORK TO DO

IF YOU ASK MEMBERS of any group of people—multinational corporations, sports teams, mom and pop businesses, rock bands, nonprofit boards, knitting clubs, you name it—they’re likely to admit that their organization pretty much sucks at feedback. Sure, I’ve met a few individuals who feel like they navigate the hazardous waters of feedback well, but at an organizational level we’re all pretty much adrift.

The depth of our collective angst over feedback has become obvious to me through my work in performance management during the past several years. In 2016, my first book, How Performance Management Is Killing Performance and What to Do about It, was published. Applying the concepts from the book, my PeopleFirm team and I work with dozens of organizations ranging from global corporations to private companies to NGOs to reboot their performance management approaches and processes, bringing the outmoded and deeply unpopular traditional approach to performance management into the modern world. While no two solutions we implement are identical, elements of the best designs tend to reoccur.

The most common element centers on enhancing feedback within and across the enterprise. Our best solutions focus on building organizational strength for growth-oriented feedback, not in a traditional manager-to-subordinate framework, but on a human-to-human and team-to-team basis, without regard for rank and title.

Leaders place their organizations’ readiness for more of this kind of frequent, open, honest, and helpful feedback at the top of their list of goals. Yet, as soon as we begin to move toward a solution that’s dependent on making feedback flow frequently and transparently, we hear the same things: We’re not good at feedback. We’re not ready. We lack the skills. We lack the confidence. Our managers are unprepared. Our culture won’t support it. People will weaponize it. We don’t have the discipline. We just can’t do it.

You get the idea.

It’s this sadly predictable response that has convinced me that we need to take a collective approach to solving the problem of feedback once and for all. To create organizational cultures that encourage people and teams to thrive, grow, and do their best work in an environment that feels safe, we need to tame this beast. And if it’s getting in the way for nearly all of us, then we absolutely must tackle it together. We can build skills and mentally prepare for this transformation, but first we need to understand what’s standing in our way and how to get past it. We can do this by aligning to a new definition of feedback and a common set of principles, while adopting easy-to-use models and tools and practicing them every day. Let’s put fear in the rearview mirror and head for a place where feedback helps and doesn’t hurt—where we all can agree on a new and better concept of what feedback is, then develop a sustainable and workable cure for what’s ailing it.

I AM NOT A RELATIONSHIP EXPERT

Spending so much of my time immersed in the world of performance management motivated me to devote my second book to the all-important subject of feedback. After weeks of outlining and brainstorming I worked with my writing partner, Laura Grealish, to put together a spiffy book proposal to send to our publisher. Every book proposal needs to identify the audience you intend to reach and suggest how you expect the book to be marketed. The original pitch to our publisher, Berrett-Koehler, claimed that this book would be for everyone: it could be used by businesses, schools, families, you name it. It seemed like the right idea; after all, feedback is a ubiquitous topic and a universal pain in the butt.

However, once we got the thumbs-up and began writing in earnest, I realized that, while the concepts and tips in this book could be used just about any time two or more people are interacting, the goal really was never to write a book to help people manage their relationships with their mothers, sisters, partners, or teenagers. My true aim was, and remains, helping organizations and the people in them get better, stronger, and more engaged. That’s my passion, that’s my life, that’s what I was put here to do. Suddenly, just a few days into our writing, I told Laura about my revelation, and we agreed that this would definitely be a business book—specifically, one focused on making the world of work a better place through better feedback.

That evening I shared this news with my husband (who also serves as my line editor). He quickly agreed that this was a good idea—almost too quickly.

You know, this absolutely makes sense, he said. After a pause, he added, I mean, it’s not like you’re some kind of relationship expert. Well, he was right, but that stung a bit. Still, there’s hope that editing this book helps improve his feedback skills.

I give you this peek behind the creative curtain only to make it clear that this book was written through an organizational lens. It’s about people and work and helping each other thrive in that environment. That doesn’t mean you can’t use these ideas and tips in the rest of your life, of course; if you find it helps you improve communication with your teenager or your spouse, then that’s a bonus. But before you apply anything you find in this book to your personal life, remember this important fact: I am not a relationship expert. Just ask my husband.

FEEDBACK SHORTCOMINGS, FEEDBACK SUCCESSES

Your business will only rise to the level of your people. This simple truth has been my guiding principle as I’ve built and sustained environments where people advance rapidly, where they’re frequently stretched to their maximum potential, and where clients demand the best of them every day. In every organization I’ve led, people are the only true assets. In real terms, that means business performance is directly correlated with the performance of the team and the individuals in it. Sure, that holds true for just about every business, but in professional services like consulting, it’s hard-coded. The rates you charge, the work you win, the extent to which clients are willing to place their trust in you and your team, and