| | | I kind of hate feedback — at least the kind that Marcus Buckingham and Ashley Goodall define as "telling people what we think of their performance and how they should do it better." | |  | | February 20, 2019 | | |  | | | | Read online | | | | The New F-Word | | | | | | From Amy Bernstein
Editor, Harvard Business Review | | | I kind of hate feedback — at least the kind that Marcus Buckingham and Ashley Goodall define as “telling people what we think of their performance and how they should do it better.” Getting it makes you feel defensive; giving it makes you feel negative and judgy. That’s why our new cover story, “The Feedback Fallacy” hit a nerve for me. In it, Buckingham and Goodall point to why feedback can be so unproductive and describe a better way to help others thrive — which should be the point, right?
“The Collaboration Blind Spot” gets at another peeve of mine: minimizing the role of human nature in management. Take cross-group initiatives. They frequently fail, and in trying to figure out why, leaders tend to focus on processes, structures, and incentives. But a more insightful rationale comes from Lisa Kwan, who points out that when people are asked to share information and sacrifice their autonomy, they often “retreat into themselves and reflexively assume a defensive posture. Their top priorities: Guard the territory, minimize the threat.” So before you ask teams to work together, ask yourself: How might the people doing the collaborating react?
Finally, we’ve all heard about toxic cultures. Some of us have even worked in them. But Jeremy Andrus’s story takes cultural toxicity to a whole new level. The day after he announced that Traeger, his grill-making company, would close its warehouse and trucking operations, he arrived at work to discover one of the big rigs aflame. That’s not all: The atmosphere at headquarters was so hostile that once when Andrus asked the CFO to meet with him, the CFO said he was too busy to make time. In this issue’s How I Did It, Andrus describes how he neutralized the toxicity and overhauled the company and its culture. It’s a great read.
Until next time,
Amy Bernstein | | | | In the Issue: | | | | | | | | | For years, managers have been encouraged to praise and criticize just about everything workers do. But it turns out that feedback doesn’t help employees thrive. Why? Research shows that people can’t reliably rate the performance of others; neuroscience reveals that criticism provokes the brain’s “fight or flight” response; and excellence looks different for each individual. Managers will never produce great performance by identifying what they think is failure and telling people how to correct it. Instead, leaders should focus on what people are doing well. | | | | | | | | | | | | | When leaders plan cross-group collaboration initiatives at their organizations, they tend to think carefully about logistics, processes, incentives, and outcomes. These factors are important, of course. But they leave out an important consideration: how the groups being asked to work together might feel about the request — especially when they are being told to divulge information, sacrifice autonomy, share resources, or cede responsibilities. All too often, groups feel threatened by such demands: What if it’s a sign that they’ve become less important to the company? To make sure collaborative initiatives are successful, leaders must first identify threats to group security and take steps to minimize them. | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | In October 2014, Jeremy Andrus arrived at work to find one of his company’s big-rig trucks on fire in the parking lot. It was an extreme manifestation of a corrosive problem: the grill maker’s culture had become poisonous, characterized by lack of trust, negative attitudes, and a stubborn refusal to collaborate. After the arson, Andrus resolved to start from scratch. He bought out the majority owner, moved the company’s headquarters, carefully winnowed the employees, worked to create a physical environment that feels true to the brand, and built a community of fans on social media. The company’s strategy, marketing, and product line were all overhauled. In just five years, sales grew from $70 million to nearly $400 million. | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Organizations should seize the opportunity to make strides toward gender equity — not only because it’s the right thing to do, but also because companies that don’t will soon be left behind. | | | | This 20-article collection, curated by our editors, includes the best recent research on women and gender in the workplace published by Harvard Business Review. Written on topics ranging from competition for the C-suite to flextime among line workers to the staggering prevalence of harassment, each article includes discussion questions to help you facilitate the conversations that will bring change to your team and your organization. | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
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