Getting better
“Getting better” is a key capability in life. And it is for any aspect of life. Of course you need to get better with the things you have to do at work. If you are constantly getting better either you inevitably raise your salary on the long term or at least you stay as long in your job as possible in bad times.
But getting better is not only a business thing. Getting better with all this fuzzy people stuff is so much more important than e.g. knowing how to use Java generics or hacking the Linux kernel. It helps you with your friends, with your spouse, of course in your job and even if you argue the price of your new car with your car dealer. So learning how to “get better” is central.
That’s why I decided to blog a bit about it. And this is actually the first of three postings about feedback. But wait a minute: haven’t you said getting better is the point you wanted to write about and not feedback? Yes, but this still makes sense (well at least I think it does ;-). Just let me explain:
Getting better with something is a synonym for learning. And while there is something like “physically learning” something most of the “getting better” situations in modern life do actually mean mental learning.
So what does it need to learn something? Actually a lot: you have to want to learn it (at least this helps), you need the right mood and a lot of other things, but one essential thing is: you need feedback loops! Feedback is one of the most important things for learning. Maybe the only essential. But one thing is sure, you can’t learn without feedback!
Nonsense you might think, I learned a lot of things without any feedback loops. Really, did you? Think about it, how do you know if what you do is good or bad without feedback loops? Imagine you want to learn playing the piano. And now imagine the only piano you can use is absolutely silent. It doesn’t produce the slightest tone. How could you ever know what you play, how it sounds and how to improve your playing? So here we have one of the huge misconceptions about learning: practicing doesn’t make you better by default. It doesn’t matter how much you practice without feedback loops you just waste your time!
So let’s bring that back to real life: a lot of people think they are good at their job because they’ve done it for decades. This fact alone doesn’t mean anything! Do you think you are good at your job, just because you did it for a long time? Are you the best hacker on earth just because you started to program 15 years ago? Think again! Do you have a mentor giving you feedback? Have you asked someone to give you feedback on your work products lately? Why not?
Now let’s switch positions from feedback receiver to the person giving feedback: Somebody annoys you, because he is so stupid. He just doesn’t get it. Or he constantly annoys you with his unfriendly and offending way to treat people or especially you? Did you give him feedback on this, so that he had the possibility to actually learn and improve on the points that annoy you? If not how could he find out what’s wrong? And no: the answer “but it is so obvious; he should have gotten it by himself” is plain wrong. Just that it’s obvious to you doesn’t mean anything. Even if it obvious to everybody else, it doesn’t have to be for him.
And also: giving feedback once doesn’t help necessarily. Learning is tough and changing habits is even tougher. So it takes time, it takes practice it takes repetition. Repeat your feedback if necessary. If you give feedback the right way, either it will work someday or you will get the answer why the other person does do it another way than you might think is best (this time it’s feedback to you).
So let’s sum it up (the post is pretty long anyway): learning is essential. Feedback is essential to learning. Feedback loops come in simple forms like “I see the result of my action” and as “feedback from other persons” which is necessary every time the simple form is not sufficient. So give feedback and try to get feedback! A lot of feedback! But how does effective feedback look like? Well that is the content of my following two postings. So stay tuned…
Alex
P.S.: As always of course: your feedback is welcome ;-)
But getting better is not only a business thing. Getting better with all this fuzzy people stuff is so much more important than e.g. knowing how to use Java generics or hacking the Linux kernel. It helps you with your friends, with your spouse, of course in your job and even if you argue the price of your new car with your car dealer. So learning how to “get better” is central.
That’s why I decided to blog a bit about it. And this is actually the first of three postings about feedback. But wait a minute: haven’t you said getting better is the point you wanted to write about and not feedback? Yes, but this still makes sense (well at least I think it does ;-). Just let me explain:
Getting better with something is a synonym for learning. And while there is something like “physically learning” something most of the “getting better” situations in modern life do actually mean mental learning.
So what does it need to learn something? Actually a lot: you have to want to learn it (at least this helps), you need the right mood and a lot of other things, but one essential thing is: you need feedback loops! Feedback is one of the most important things for learning. Maybe the only essential. But one thing is sure, you can’t learn without feedback!
Nonsense you might think, I learned a lot of things without any feedback loops. Really, did you? Think about it, how do you know if what you do is good or bad without feedback loops? Imagine you want to learn playing the piano. And now imagine the only piano you can use is absolutely silent. It doesn’t produce the slightest tone. How could you ever know what you play, how it sounds and how to improve your playing? So here we have one of the huge misconceptions about learning: practicing doesn’t make you better by default. It doesn’t matter how much you practice without feedback loops you just waste your time!
So let’s bring that back to real life: a lot of people think they are good at their job because they’ve done it for decades. This fact alone doesn’t mean anything! Do you think you are good at your job, just because you did it for a long time? Are you the best hacker on earth just because you started to program 15 years ago? Think again! Do you have a mentor giving you feedback? Have you asked someone to give you feedback on your work products lately? Why not?
Now let’s switch positions from feedback receiver to the person giving feedback: Somebody annoys you, because he is so stupid. He just doesn’t get it. Or he constantly annoys you with his unfriendly and offending way to treat people or especially you? Did you give him feedback on this, so that he had the possibility to actually learn and improve on the points that annoy you? If not how could he find out what’s wrong? And no: the answer “but it is so obvious; he should have gotten it by himself” is plain wrong. Just that it’s obvious to you doesn’t mean anything. Even if it obvious to everybody else, it doesn’t have to be for him.
And also: giving feedback once doesn’t help necessarily. Learning is tough and changing habits is even tougher. So it takes time, it takes practice it takes repetition. Repeat your feedback if necessary. If you give feedback the right way, either it will work someday or you will get the answer why the other person does do it another way than you might think is best (this time it’s feedback to you).
So let’s sum it up (the post is pretty long anyway): learning is essential. Feedback is essential to learning. Feedback loops come in simple forms like “I see the result of my action” and as “feedback from other persons” which is necessary every time the simple form is not sufficient. So give feedback and try to get feedback! A lot of feedback! But how does effective feedback look like? Well that is the content of my following two postings. So stay tuned…
Alex
P.S.: As always of course: your feedback is welcome ;-)
posted by Alex at 8:55 AM
1 Comments:
Good post. It feels a bit awkward making a comment on a two and a half year old post. I was preparing for a mini-speech on the Importance of Feedback and stumbled upon your post and liked it.
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