Good feedback

Good feedback isn’t the same as positive feedback.

Positive feedback feels good. It's reassuring and motivating but it doesn’t always make the work better.

Negative feedback can also be good. It helps you see what you missed or what doesn’t work. It tests the strength of the idea.

But not all feedback is useful.

Ask, “What do you think?” or “Do you like it?”, and you rarely get a clear signal.

You’ll get opinions, noise, subjective reactions that tell you little about whether the work is moving toward the goal. Worse still you may get false-positives or false-negatives that set you off on the wrong course all together.

It’s not the fault of the person providing the feedback, they’re doing their best with what they know and what they’ve been asked. Often, they’ll provide commentary on things that they have no experience or expertise in but want to ‘give you some feedback’ to be helpful. And because you asked for it.

To get a useful response, you need to frame feedback so that it is measurable against success criteria. You also need to be specific about what you do and don’t need feedback on.

By creating a framework for the kind of feedback you require, you can then decide on who is the most appropriate person to give it.

When you do, feedback becomes less about comfort and more about clarity.

Good feedback doesn’t make you feel better; it makes the work better.