I was listening to another wonderful podcast on the weekend by Robert Glazer, where this time he spoke with Marshall Goldsmith, who many believe is the best leadership coach in the world. Everyone should have a listen here and make their own conclusions. There is no doubt that he is impressive and there is much to learn about him and his philosophies. There was so much to unpack, but one area struck a chord with me, and I believe isn't spoken about, nor utilized in the life or the workplace is the concept of Feedforward.
In our search to improve performance, most organizations rely heavily on feedback. Reviewing what has already occurred is crucial for identifying strengths, analyzing failures, and enhancing skills. However, exclusively focusing on the past has its limitations. To unlock growth, we must balance feedback with an often overlooked counterpart: feedforward.
What is the difference?
Feedback evaluates past and current performance, while feedforward provides suggestions for the future. Feedback often centers on critique and correction, whereas feedforward emphasizes possibilities and solutions. Both play vital yet distinct roles.
Feedback is invaluable for:
Pinpointing areas for improvement based on actual experience and results
Affirming positive progress made toward goals
Fostering accountability for work completed
Determining development needs through performance reviews
However, excessive criticism in feedback can lead to demotivation. And a rigid focus on “what is” may hinder imagining “what could be.”
Feedforward enables:
Envisioning aspirational futures versus reflecting on current states
Building confidence by focusing on potential versus shortcomings
Suggesting solutions tailored to individuals’ strengths
Exploring new approaches without judgement
With feedback, we look in the rearview mirror; with feedforward, the windshield. Both perspectives are imperative. Feedback offers wisdom from experience that informs high performance. Meanwhile, feedforward fuels what if scenarios, puts the feedback into context with suggestions for improvement and in turn levels up performance.
Best practice is to integrate both throughout the employee lifecycle. Provide regular informal feedback to support progress. Conduct formal performance reviews to measure achievements. Then use feedforward to propel each person forward.
Offer feedforward that is motivational and meaningful. Getting this combination right unlocks individual, team and organizational excellence.
Feedback and feedforward together enable continuous improvement fueled by lessons learned and guided by inspiring visions of what could be. With both lenses, we gain wisdom and clarity to level up our people and drive increased motivation and in turn performance.