There Is No Such Thing as Constructive Feedback (9.1)

"When I hear, 'I've got some feedback for you,' my brain shuts down."

It is important to let others know when you are satisfied with the work you're working together or not, but "giving feedback" is never the most effective way to do it.

The reason is that feeling under evaluation is like feeling "under the gun." It often creates so much stress that it's impossible to think straight. As David Rock describes in his theory of SCARF, human beings care about status, certainty, autonomy, relatedness and fairness. The typical feedback conversation threatens each one of these, creating a neurological shutdown.

There are three key problems with the standard model of feedback: the goal, the framing, and the language. In the following video, I consider these three problems and turn feedback into a performance enhancing conversation.

Further Reading: Why Feedback Fails: A Neurological Explanation

Readers: How would you change your feedback conversations into performance enhancing ones?

Fred Kofman, Ph.D. in Economics, is Vice President at Linkedin. This post is part 2.1. of Linkedin's Conscious Business Program. You can find the introduction and structure of this program here. To stay connected and get updates join our LinkedIn Group: Conscious Business Friends.

You can Follow Fred Kofman on LinkedIn here.