Episode 19: Giving feedback, getting feedback, and creating a learning culture, with General Tom Kolditz
Bi-annual performance reviews, with all their formality, do have a purpose…. but feedback is something that should happen much more regularly than that. Feedback is a gift. It’s a chance to understand what’s working and what’s not and to grow from those lessons. So why don’t we give feedback more often?
To explore the topic of feedback and how to create a learning culture we’ve brought in retired Brigadier General and Leadership expert General Tom Kolditz. General Tom led the Department of Behavioral Sciences and Leadership at West Point for 12 years and was the founding director of the West Point Leadership Center. His 35 year career has focused on either leading organizations himself, or studying leadership and leadership policy across sectors. He is the founding Director of the Ann and John Doerr Institute for New Leaders at Rice University. Tom leads a program for businesses and government agencies called “Feedback and Shaping a Learning Culture”, one of many course offerings.
Notable Quotes:
5:00 One of the responsibilities that leaders have is to shape the reality of success and failure in the organization.
7:00 When you walk past a mistake, that's the new standard in your organization.
30:00 If people are only ever held accountable for mistakes, then suddenly you stop hearing about them. That's really dangerous. Those organizations collapse really violently in the end.
Resources (people, books, and ideas mentioned in this episode):
After Action Review: Forward looking discussion about how to do better in the future
Marshal Goldsmith - Feed Forward (Instead of feedback)
Measure What Matters, John Doer