Cameron Conaway's Blog, page 3
February 17, 2024
Giving Downward Feedback? Ease the Power Dynamic.
Downward feedback typically refers to feedback given by a manager to their direct report. It can also refer to any feedback given by a more senior employee to a junior employee. If I facilitate a 60-minute discussion about feedback, at least one participant, usually a more junior colleague, will bring up the role of power ... Read more
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February 16, 2024
Seeking Clarity When Giving Feedback
Giving constructive feedback is challenging. It’s so challenging that 21% of managers avoid giving it. It’s so challenging that leaders directly ask executive coaches like Melody Wilding: “How do I overcome the fear of giving feedback?” To combat this stress, many feedback givers prepare for hours to ensure they are ready to communicate to the ... Read more
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Giving Feedback as Directive vs. Guide
“If feedback isn’t viewed as discussable, it should be positioned as a directive.” — Mychelle Mollot Mychelle’s comment was in response to when I asked my LinkedIn connections: “What’s your advice for receiving and ultimately choosing what to do with feedback?” Her insight has stuck with me ever since. It clarified why constructive feedback must ... Read more
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Narrative Fallacy in Feedback
A narrative fallacy is when, in our attempt to make sense of a complex world, we construct and then believe in false and usually overly simple causes or stories about why or how something happened. Mathematical statistician Nassim Nicholas Taleb coined the term in his book The Black Swan. Taleb used the term to describe ... Read more
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February 15, 2024
Why Checking In After Giving Feedback is So Powerful
A colorful abstract paining shows people at a circular table working on a puzzle together.
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February 5, 2024
Feedback and Trauma
Trauma of various types has caused me a tremendous amount of suffering over the years, and I’m far from alone in that. Over 70% of respondents in a 24-country survey from the World Mental Health Survey Consortium, a survey across 24 countries, reported having a traumatic event in their lives. According to the VA, 6 ... Read more
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February 4, 2024
Recency Bias in Feedback Relationships
As students of feedback communication, we know we bring our cognitive biases into feedback relationships. Recency bias is one of those biases, perhaps the most common. Let’s discuss what recency bias is, how it can impact giving and receiving feedback, and what we can do about it. What is recency bias? According to the Encyclopedia ... Read more
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February 3, 2024
Negativity Bias in Feedback Relationships
Whether you are giving feedback or receiving feedback, there’s a good chance you may be diminishing your effectiveness by bringing negativity bias into the relationship. Let’s discuss what negativity bias is, how it can impact our feedback relationships, and how we can create mental habits that make us more effective. What is negativity bias? Negativity ... Read more
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Listening to Understand When Receiving Feedback
How do you listen to others? No, I don’t mean how do you perceive how you listen. I mean, actually, how do you listen to them? How do you know this to be true? These are a few questions we were asked to work with at a mindful communication workshop at Spirit Rock Meditation Center. ... Read more
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February 2, 2024
Show and Tell When Giving Feedback
“Show don’t tell” is common advice in creative writing workshops. The idea is to show descriptions in such a way that helps the reader see or otherwise experience them. The examples here are infinite, but consider the differences between these two passages: “The smell was strong, pungent. Jessie was severely impacted by it.” Or: “The ... Read more
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