Yes, you read that right. You should NEVER ask for honest feedback.
Asking for honest feedback sounds magnanimous, but it’s a trap.
‘Why?’ you cry!
Because if you ask
for honest feedback, you might just get it…
... and not in the way you’d hoped.
Worse is unsolicited honesty. You know the kind:
‘Can I give you some honest
feedback?’
Erm… maybe not.
The problem is that ‘honest’ is often just a thinly veiled excuse for someone to share their opinion – not to help you improve.
So what do you do?
You ask for specific feedback.
Use this type of question instead:
- What’s one thing I could do to improve this presentation?Not ten things. One. Focused and actionable.
- Was there anything in the report that wasn’t 100% clear?
That’s how you remove
confusion.
- If you had to tweak just one part of this design, what would it be?
You’re permitting them to be constructive, not over-critical.
Honest feedback can create pain.
Specific feedback can create progress.
I believe receiving feedback should make you better.
And if you would like to give me some specific feedback on this message you can do so
(and read dozens of previous newsletters) by clicking here.
Be Brilliant!
