Transcript
Hi there and welcome to Module 3 in our Constructive Feedback course.
Now that we’ve received and processed our feedback, it’s time to think about how we use it.
At this point in the course we’ve developed an understanding of what feedback is and why it’s important, and we’ve also discussed a few of the challenges that can arise and how to mitigate some of those challenges.
From there, we started to build the pieces of a kind of constructive feedback assembly line.
We learned how to receive constructive feedback, including feedback that may be especially challenging to us.
But it was here where we realized that receiving feedback does not necessarily mean making a decision about it.
We split out the receiving of feedback from our next step, processing it.
So let’s say we’ve used some of the tools in Module 2 to effectively process that feedback and in leveraging the six Ps and the feedback decision tree.
Let’s say we’ve now decided that we are going to adopt the feedback – that is, we’ve decided that we can grow professionally if we adopt it.
It’s now time to integrate it into our work life.
But as with all parts of this course, it’s worth being strategic here.
As feedback researchers have made clear: feedback is perhaps the most powerful lever for our professional growth, but the results can vary due to its complexity.
Fortunately, the work you’ve done up to this point by receiving and processing has served as a kind of filtering mechanism, and you may find that in some ways actually using the feedback is the easiest part. As such, this module will be a little shorter than the others as we’ll walk through a framework to help us use the feedback.
As we progress through the framework you might want to think about an example of feedback you received so you can see how it plays out, or if nothing arises let’s assume you receive feedback about improving your public speaking skills.
I’ll use this example as we go.
So our GROWTH model begins with G with G standing for Game Plan.
Just as you’ve carefully and mindfully received and processed the feedback, now it’s time to do the same with using it. Creating a Game Plan has several meanings.
First, it’s about building out a strategy for how you’re going to adopt this feedback.
You might set a SMART goal here with SMART standing for Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound.
So a SMART goal could be that you want to improve your public speaking skills over the next six months.
Specifically, perhaps you could work both on handling the anxiety you feel when you take the stage and reading less from your presentation slides.
Part of your plan to get some reps could be to join a Toastmasters group. Well, this could provide a great opportunity for you to also get Measurable results.
Perhaps you even get truly obsessed with it and begin tracking your heart rate as you stand in front of a crowd.
Or, with recordings, you might measure how often you turn to your slides with the Measurable goal of doing so less frequently.
Are these results Achievable?
I’d say so.
You are looking to make incremental improvements here, not give a TED Talk that reaches 10 million views. Does this game plan feel Relevant?
It sure does.
You found a way outside of work to get some reps in.
Another positive step in this direction, when you feel ready, is to discover ways to get some reps in while in the context of your work environment.
And, lastly, this Game Plan you’ve set is Time-bound, with your goal being to improve within 6 months.
The other meaning to Game Plan is to think of this as though it’s a game – meaning, try to have some fun and bring some joy to it.
While performance improvement often focuses extensively on grit and discipline and willpower and other modes of determination, joy can be a secret sauce that fuels all of them. As we mentioned in previous parts of this course, if you pair curiosity and indeed joy with grit you will be well on your way to improving in whatever it is you are doing.
Next, we move to R with R standing for Reflect.
As you progress, it will be important to Reflect on how you’re progressing.
You may have days when you feel you made leaps and bounds of progress whereas other days may feel like two steps back.
Over time, through reflection, whether through journaling or some other means, you’ll begin to see patterns that can both help ensure you are staying on a path to growth and inspire you by showing you how even the small moments of progress all add up.
From there, we can move to O with O standing for Ownership.
Throughout the process of adopting challenging constructive feedback, it’s important for you to keep in mind that this journey is yours to own.
Yes, the feedback may have come from someone else but you are not necessarily adopting it for them.
This is for you.
You own it.
You own the journey of it.
Seeing yourself as the owner can allow you to tend to your growth with more care and more consistency.
Key to ownership as well is getting feedback from others about how you are doing.
If you didn’t already, you now know the importance of feedback for professional growth, so part of your ownership can be to get feedback about how you are incorporating this feedback.
We then move to W with W standing for Wonder.
If the Game of Game Plan didn’t resonate with you, here’s to Wonder serving that purpose.
At every step along the way, try to to see your path to improvement with a beginner’s mind, with a sense of wonder.
Wonder is what allows some of the world’s greatest to remain fascinated by the details of their craft, details that many others may overlook, details that, if developed, can catapult growth.
In our public speaking example, you may find that intentionally smiling before you take the stage seems to lighten your posture and relax you. Rather than take that for granted, you can have a sense of wonder about it.
How incredible is this development?
You may have struggled with a sick feeling in your stomach every time you’ve ever taken the stage and yet now simply by smiling that sense of nausea fades to the background.
Bring a sense of wonder to that and you may find it allows you to more easily remember and incorporate these new skills into your repertoire.
Our next letter is T with T standing for Test.
At various points along the way, it can be helpful to test your progress, perhaps in new environments. To continue with our public speaking example, let’s say your confidence is growing at Toastmasters.
A new test for you might be to ask your manager if there might be any internal speaking opportunities in the coming weeks, or if she might be supportive of you applying to speak at an upcoming industry event.
Again, as you progress here you’ll be able to determine which test feels right for you.
And lastly we have H with H standing for Habit.
Learning about all the public speaking skills in the world won’t necessarily lead to you becoming a better public speaker.
However, turning a few critical skills into a habit could create some remarkable results. As James Clear, author of Atomic Habits writes, “All big things come from small beginnings.
The seed of every habit is a single, tiny decision.
But as that decision is repeated, a habit sprouts and grows stronger.” In my experience, it isn’t until the constructive feedback I’ve adopted becomes a new habit, a habit I no longer even have to think about, that I can begin to think about focusing on working with something new.
So team, that’s the GROWTH model for using feedback.
Similar to the quote from Billie Jean King we talked about earlier in the course, you might think of feedback equaling growth as a way to remember both the importance of feedback and our model here.
I’ll see you over at Module 4.