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Feedback Flower (Photo credit: jonathanpberger)

One of the main ways to improve your “self” is to ask for feedback from friends, family and work colleagues. In theory, inviting feedback on your performance should help you understand what your strengths and weaknesses are. It’s also a way of clarifying your perceptions and ideas about your own performance. The Harvard Business Review Management Tips 4, 7 and 8 expand on this ideology.

For instance, there is a suggestion about meeting with former co-workers each month to keep in touch and well-informed about industry changes. And that you could use this session to invite feedback on your contributions to your industry’s space. Another tip suggests that you reflect on your annual work performance review to find ways of turning any highlighted weaknesses into strengths. Furthermore, you are encouraged to ask people who you are in continual contact with (such as direct reports, peers and customers) to critique your ideas and approaches.

But can we deal with this level of constant feedback? How much can one’s ego take? Is it possible that we could just develop a hard exterior shell to deflect so-called constructive criticism? Will our defensive mechanisms deep within our sub-conscious rise up to protect us? No doubt asking for feedback on our performance is a necessary activity from time-to-time, but could it end up being an exhaustive pursuit distracting us from actually getting things done?

The personal improvement industry is a very Americanised one. I sometimes wonder how well ideas developed by North American gurus translate in Europe or even the UK. Our cultural worldviews have been honed by differing socio-economic paradigms, language, and historical contexts. For example, Europe, including the UK, too a large extent has socialistic, liberal and secular leanings. The US in comparison seems to have a more individualistic culture emphasising personal autonomy and responsibility.

McCabe (2011) in his article Opening Pandora’s Box touches on these considerations in his analysis of the effectiveness of Stephen Covey’s ideas in a UK context.  He believes Covey’s ideas are entrenched in the American dream of freedom and self-determination (p186) and are therefore context-specific. McCabe’s main argument is that ideas are hard to implement as intended because interpretation, context and organisational make-up can markedly influence the end result.

I remember a time early in my career when 360-feedback was introduced as part of the annual performance review. It was a disaster. Senior members of staff, whom you would have liked feedback from, did not have time to respond to your requests, and personal agendas from colleagues surfaced in the feedback/criticism.

Maybe this situation occurred because it was an HR/senior staff implementation failure or because new American owners wanted to take charge. But I don’t think it was much of a coincidence that a quarter of the department left by the end of the year. I suspect that many people were not keen on the new working environment! Extensive organisational change I think can trigger unanticipated behaviour. After all, people make up organisations!

I am more of a fan of feedback with specific evidence. For example, “that was good/bad because of doing X and Y”.  It anchors people to unambiguous action. Daniel Pink’s book discusses how children respond to direct feedback and not generalities. Pink suggests praising effort and strategy as children are more likely to take on more difficult tasks that stretch and develop them.

Pink also implies that adults need meaningful achievement too. He believes that Type 1 behaviour (intrinsic satisfaction derived from a task) such as displayed by Warren Buffet or Mozart is made from circumstance, experience and context.  It stems from a human desire to improve and master something that matters to others. So maybe we can all become more effective as long as we are willing.

References:

Pink, D. H. (2009), “Drive: The Surprising Truth about what Motivates us”, Cannogate Press, Edinburgh, pp178-79.

McCabe, D. (2011). Opening Pandora’s Box: The Unintended Consequences of Stephen Covey’s Effectiveness Movement Management Learning, 42 (2), 183-197

After being side-tracked by my last B821: Financial Strategy assignment last week, and life in general, I’m back on the personal EBI case. Following  on from Drucker’s ideas for managing oneself better, I turned to Herminia Ibarra for further guidance on framing my career-after-MBA direction.

Ibarra and Lineback (2005) in their article “What’s your Story?” have interesting points to make about trying to link up your past career/life to the new direction you seek. They point out that many people struggle to explain what they want to do next and why a change makes sense. People fear looking flaky, incoherent and indecisive. Because of this, people stick to a factual career narrative which does not explain their long-term goals or aspirations well enough for others to “Buy-in” to their desired change.

This is why Ibarra and Lineback say it’s important to craft a good story for each of the career avenues you wish to pursue. By linking your present and future goals to your past career history, you can help others to understand how you got to the juncture you are at today and where you want to journey onto now. Being able to make sense of the turning point that led you to want to change your career direction is an important step to convincing ourselves, and others, that the career change is meaningful and not fleeting.  Your story must be coherent and persuasive, if you hope to redirect your career trajectory.

Thankfully, Ibarra and Lineback do provide some useful action points that they believe can help a professional change career direction, those being:

• Link your change reasons to your skillset e.g “I found that I was good at X…”
• Mention multiple reasons (personal & professional) for why you want change;
• Make sure you have reasons for why you didn’t pursue your current goals in your past;
• Reframe your past in light of your current/future goals;
• Choose a story form that lends itself to your tale of reinvention such as a maturing view of the world or learning from self-reflection/educational insight;

They also suggest that in the early stages of your career transition, it is important to identify and actively consider multiple career pathways. This is something that I’ve already started doing. I’m trying to map my career options with a list of known pros and cons for each pathway.

Furthermore, once you have settled on the career routes that you wish to pursue, it is important to discuss them with different types of audiences such as friends, family, co-workers or acquaintances. The more feedback you get, the more likely you are to settle on the right career path for you and the one that is the most achievable.

Reference:

Ibarra H, & Lineback K (2005). What’s your story? Harvard business review, 83 (1), 64-71 PMID: 15697114

How can you improve your career prospects whilst developing your own learning? Peter Drucker (1999) in his Harvard Business Review article Managing Oneself advocates a lengthy period of reflection on your actions and the resulting outcomes of it. Drucker suggests that through personal Feedback Analysis we can all understand where our strengths lie and work on improving them. We can also see what skill and knowledge gaps need to be improved on and take action to correct them. Overcoming our intellectual arrogance is a priority as it prevents learning from others and thinking more flexibly.

Drucker argues that it is increasingly important that knowledge workers learn to develop themselves so they can be more effective. Work on remedying your bad habits and develop good inter-personal skills to gain the cooperation of your work colleagues. Also, as Pareto’s Principle states, only work on what matters. Direct the 80% of your action towards the 20% that matters to your learning and development. There is no point wasting time on assignments and tasks that will only result in mediocrity and not star performance.

Another area to focus on is how you perform. How do you learn and work in your job? Are you a reader or listener or writer? Personally speaking, I see myself as a writer and talker. I make notes on paper and on my text books. Any book that I read I have to annotate with my own marks and diagrams. I find I remember more by writing things down and then discussing the ideas with others for alternative viewpoints. It is also important to work out whether you work best with others or alone; as a leader or deputy; or better in a large or small organisation. Knowing where you belong is extremely important.

Furthermore understanding your personal values system can help you perform much more effectively. Your personal values need to be compatible with those of the organisation you work for otherwise you will only become frustrated. Drucker believes that successful careers develop when people are prepared for opportunities because they know their strengths, their method of work, and their values. Only then can a person make a difference to themselves and the organisation they belong to.

In making a difference, the results need to be SMART and meaningful. The results should also be visible and measurable. From this standpoint, a course of action will develop. Another important consideration is the impact others may have on your objectives. Knowing your co-workers and their strengths and weaknesses can help you work more effectively with them. It is also important to communicate well. Tell people what you are doing and what you are hoping to achieve. Organisations are made up of people; it’s your responsibility and duty to gain the cooperation and trust of your co-workers through developing good working relationships.

Overall, I found Drucker’s advice actionable and I intend to audit my strengths and embark on more feedback analysis both on a personal level and with others. I also think it is important that I explore my value system so that I can understand where I fit into the world following the completion of my Masters. However, Drucker’s advice is based on anecdotal evidence in this article and not backed-up by hard statistical “facts”. This is slightly worrying for me as acting on someone’s own anecdotal evidence may not be appropriate for my needs or situation.

Obviously I accept that Drucker had an illustrious academic career, but most of what he says seems like common sense rather than “proved” by research. On one hand I believe that as individuals we have choices and responsibilities, but depending on your “professional” career, some people have more choice than others. For instance, I’m fortunate to be able to study full-time and spend time writing my blog and reflecting on my learning. Many people don’t have the luxury of being able to undertake postgraduate study, nor have enough autonomy in their role to direct what assignments they will take on.

I remember an interview situation with a prospective employer where I was asked for an example of a situation in which I turned something negative into a positive result through personal leadership. After I ran through my own anecdotal situation, I was then told that organisations can’t have too many leaders insinuating that too much personal autonomy would not work at that organisation! If Drucker is right that knowledge workers have to manage themselves and behave like their own Chief Executive Officer, personal goals are likely to conflict with the goals of the organisation and other work colleagues. How one balances this dichotomy is no doubt an art rather than a science in my view.

References:
Drucker, F. P. (1999). Managing Oneself Harvard Business Review (March)