I have written quite a bit on how important feedback is and how to give feedback in a way that it can be received well. This past week my team and I received some feedback from one of our customers. It was good feedback. It was hard feedback.
Feedback: The Art of Balancing
I met former Marine Sergeant the last adventure trip that my son and I went on to West Virginia. He and his daughter were avid rock climbers and through discussion he discovered that we were going to be bouldering, but not rock climbing because we didn't have the gear to climb. He immediately invited us to climb with he and his daughter the following day; we definitely took him up on it. He let us use his gear and so I put the harness on, the shoes and then listened as he reminded me of how the carabiners and rope all worked. I locked in and then looked at him and said "climbing" and he looked back at me and said "belaying". I turned to the 70' wall, looked up at it to strategize on the path that I would take, lifted my foot and hand to the first foothold and handhold and off I went.
Feedback: Something, Anything... But Do Something
When my son was younger, he would follow my feedback to the "T"...most of the time. As my son has grown older, he has begun to make his own decisions. I found it really interesting as we bouldered at the Pinnacles, just north of Big Bear Lake, CA, he began to really determine his own paths, even when I would tell him, "I think this way is easier," or "This way is faster." He had begun to find his own way.
Feedback: Overcome The Fear & Grow
There was once a junior supply officer in the USMC who was on a field operation in the humid and hot North Carolina spring air. It was a stormy night and as the officer woke from a few hours of sleep, he knew that the supplies that he was supposed to get out didn't make it due to the inclement weather. He had tried his best but had come up short. Now he had to face his commanding officer and the logistics officer to communicate that the job didn't get done.
