Delivering Feedback

When delivering tough feedback, use this framework:

Start directly: “I want to chat with you about [specific issue]”

Share observations: “What I’m hearing/seeing is [specific examples]”

Connect to impact: “We both know that to be successful here...”

Focus on future: “Let’s discuss how we can improve this going forward”

If someone gets defensive during... See more

“Better to get your dopamine from improving your ideas than having them validated. “ – Nat Friedman

Instead of telling people what I think of a proposal, a product, a feature, whatever, I ask them instead what they think. Were they thrilled with it? Absolutely love it? Most of the time I would hear, “It's okay,” or “It's not bad.” They would surmise from my facial expression that this wasn't the answer I was looking for. Come back when you are... See more

• #fyi — had a thought, no real hill to die on.


• #suggestion — there’s a hill, I’m not going to die on it. But this is what I would do if I were you.


• #recommendation — I’m climbing the hill, I won’t die on it. But I’ve thought about this a lot, and don’t ignore the feedback.


• #plea — I don’t like dying on hills and that’s not really what we do, but this

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There's a great quote that Nick Saban said. He said that average players want to be left alone. Good players want to be coached, and great players want to be told the truth. Michael had a giant ego and a giant drive, but he would run up to the coach and tell me what I need to get better at.