🔔 JOIN THE WAITLIST: The Feedback Deck

Cameron Conaway — Feedback Literacy Expert, Penn State Smeal Professor, and HBR Contributor

Cameron Conaway, Teaching Faculty of Management at Penn State Smeal College of Business

Featured In:

Harvard Business Review World Economic Forum The Guardian
“A workplace feedback expert.” — Harvard Business School

You had feedback questions, I have (a few) answers.

Giving Feedback One-on-Ones Performance Reviews Customer Feedback General Feedback FAQs
What the Research Says

The data is unambiguous.

Leaders know feedback matters. But decades of research reveal clear gaps between knowing and effectively executing. Feedback literacy is the missing layer between intention and impact.

Employees who receive valuable feedback are —

5×
more likely to be engaged at work
57%
less likely to experience burnout
48%
less likely to be looking for another job
Gallup & Workhuman, 2024 · The Human-Centered Workplace: Building Organizational Cultures That Thrive
17%
of employees planning to leave cite insufficient feedback as their primary reason for going
Textio, 2023 · Language Bias in Performance Feedback
72%
of employees say manager feedback is important for their development — yet only 5% believe they receive it
Harvard Business School · Why People Crave Feedback — and Why We’re Afraid to Give It
63%
more likely to leave within a year when feedback is vague, unactionable, or low-quality
From Feedback to Retention: Empowering Employees with Actionable Insights
21%
of managers avoid giving negative feedback — and 37% avoid giving positive feedback as well
Harvard Business Review · Why Do So Many Managers Avoid Giving Praise
50%
spike in heart rate during feedback conversations — confirming the physiological stakes of every exchange
NeuroLeadership Institute · Asked For VS. Unasked For Feedback
High performers tend to receive the worst feedback — the employees who need precision most often get vagueness instead
Fast Company · Why the Best Workers Generally Receive Useless Feedback
Free Resource

The Feedback Definition Guide.

Get the complete breakdown of feedback definitions, types, and examples in one easy-to-navigate PDF. Perfect for printing, sharing with your team, or keeping as a quick reference.

Looking for something specific?

Search Cameron’s feedback library.

Feedback and Gender The Feedback Sandwich Feedback Fallback Phrase Giving Feedback for Impact Feedback and Trauma Facilitating Employee Training What is a Feedback River? Feedback and Age
Explore All Topics
Quick Hits

Feedback in 60 Seconds

Change Management

Feedback is the fuel for change.

But change at the individual and organizational levels doesn’t just happen. There’s an art and science to it. That’s why it’s vital to be both a student of feedback and change.

Explore The Change Management Guide →
Guide Chapters
Definition of Change Management Definition Deep-Dive Why is it Important? Change Management Basics Frameworks & Models A Brief History Quotes About Change

Research Interviews

Research InterviewManaging Change: From Theory to Effective Implementation BlogChange Management: On Embracing Stillness BlogChange Management Leadership: Embody the Planned Change Research InterviewTransformational Leadership and Organizational Change Research InterviewOrganizational Change: Uncertainty and Employee Well-Being Research InterviewChange Management and Software Engineering Research InterviewThe Model of Cascading Change: A Success Story Research InterviewThe Role of Diversity Intelligence in Change Management BlogModeling Change Within Workplace Hierarchies BlogViparinama-Dukkha: The Suffering of Change (Management) Research InterviewFrom Organizational Development to Change Management

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Calendar Conformity Employee Feedback Literacy The Observational On-Ramp Joy Yield Somatic Literacy First-Arrow Fluency Hate-Mapping Impact-First Accountability
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“In the spirit of social consciousness, Cameron Conaway does the work of calling our attention.” — NPR
“An innovative and galvanizing poet.” — Adrian Matejka, Pulitzer Prize Finalist
“A writer who moves gracefully between liberal arts and martial arts.” — The Washington Post
“I was inspired.” — Ken Shamrock, UFC Legend
“Caged shows us how something many consider brutal can actually be a vehicle for achieving purpose and a better understanding of ourselves.” — Jim Arvanitis, Black Belt Magazine’s Instructor of the Year
“One of the best professors I’ve had across several universities.” — Rate My Professors Review
“At a convention where you could get lost in PowerPoint presentations on the molecular structure of malaria drug candidates, Conaway’s poems were a reminder of why all this science matters.” — NPR
“This was the best class I have ever taken in the Master’s degree program.” — Rate My Professors Review
“I couldn’t stop reading. Conaway’s writing style is as captivating as his story. He takes you inside the heart, mind and soul of a fighter. He is the voice for all fighters…” — Glen Cordoza, BJJ Black Belt and NYT Best Selling Author
“Cameron Conaway’s fierce, fearless memoir offers a clear-eyed look at a brutal childhood, an angry father, and a son’s gathering demons. In the end, though, the author carves his way forward through an unlikely combination of mixed martial arts, poetry, and human connection.” — Dinty W. Moore, Board Member, Creative Nonfiction Magazine

Books by Cameron Conaway

Exploring the intersections of global health, social justice, and the human condition.

Malaria, Poems — book cover

Malaria, Poems

“When a collection like this comes along, the world must take notice.”

— NPR
Chittagong — book cover

Chittagong

“Draws attention to the despicable and unsafe working conditions…”

— South Asian Review
Caged: Memoirs of a Cage-Fighting Poet — book cover

Caged

“A meditation on being literally and metaphorically caged.”

— DIAGRAM
Until You Make the Shore — book cover

Until You Make the Shore

“A brilliant and deeply moving debut… about mercy and forgiveness.”

— Todd Davis
Man Box — book cover

Man Box

“Can open up important conversations in gender studies classes everywhere.”

— Dr. Joe Boehman
Student at a laptop working on a poetry writing assignment

“This class will open the gateway to your inner poet.”

Over a decade ago, I wanted to help students cut through the myths (including “writer’s block”) so they could start writing quality poems in as short a time as possible. So I built the class that nearly 10,000 students are still signing up for and loving.

Start Writing →

The only way out is through.
The only way through is in.

Cameron Conaway with his dog Baker

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“Between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and freedom.”
— Viktor Frankl