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Thanks for your insights! I generally agree that feedback is important. Theoretically people should follow and gain from it. I started pleasantfish.com, a skill

Thanks for your insights! I generally agree that feedback is important. Theoretically people should follow and gain from it. I started pleasantfish.com, a skills feedback platform where people could get anonymous feedback from their current and previous colleagues about their skills and qualities. But i generally saw people are either not interested in getting them reviewed much and even if they get feedback they are not much interested in improving upen feedback(asked through user feedback) which actually brought me to this question. So i think somehow feedback has to be actionable and gives a plan of action to user in such a manner that he effortlessly tries to improve those things in his daily routine be it reading related articles or what. But users generally tend to be lazy which is why feedback in the end seems to be useless for them.

joshyeager 10y ago
Oh, ok. I was mostly talking about how an individual can get maximum benefit from feedback. One of the biggest sources of growth for me has been actively engaging and acting on the feedback I receive. For more on that, I strongly recommend Thanks for the Feedback by Sheila Heen. You're right that it's hard to get others to learn from feedback if they don't actively work at it. You can make your feedback easier to understand and more action-oriented. But if they're lazy or even just focused differently, your feedback to them won't be very effective. As a manager, I think it's still worthwhile to give as much feedback as I can. Some of it might be heard and acted on, which will help the receiver grow.
- ali_ibrahim 10y ago
  I still think if it incentivizes users in a very straightforward way then this is useful to them. In my reply to drakonka, i mention how it can be used in the career to be a super useful thing not only to them but to the companies where they work or intend to work as well. Do you think it should be done that way?
  - joshyeager 10y ago
    Yes, that would be very interesting. As a hiring manager, I wouldn't make a decision based solely on that information, but I definitely would use it if it was available.
    - ali_ibrahim 10y ago
      Yes exactly! Cannot base the decision entirely on that but atleast the insights can be really interesting. It would be great if you can check out this thread (https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12142878 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12142878) and then give your related feedback. This is how i am trying to tackle this problem. From the feedback that i have got from this thread, however, feedback is a very personal thing and users who really want to improve themselves don't have a solution right now where they can privately request their coworkers(former or present) for this information and not get potentially penalized for it (if negative) by their existing managers in the performance review meetings.
- bind 10y ago
  Does "don't add your 2 cents" [1] contradict what you said? [1] - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12156234 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12156234
- 10921809211 10y ago
  Where "grow" means "behave like the manager thinks is beneficial for the company". http://yosefk.com/blog/people-can-read-their-managers-mind.html http://yosefk.com/blog/people-can-read-their-managers-mind.h... Probably better than "Thanks for the Feedback" by Sheila Heen.
  - joshyeager 10y ago
    Yeah, most feedback is going to come from what the giver feels is important, and a manager will usually prioritize what the company needs. A good manager will also prioritize the employee's own goals, but not every manager (or company) is mature enough to do both at the same time. But that doesn't mean that you as an individual can't get value from the feedback you receive. You just have to process it intentionally, instead of taking it at face value. That's one of my favorite points in Thanks for the Feedback.

joshyeager 10y ago

Oh, ok. I was mostly talking about how an individual can get maximum benefit from feedback. One of the biggest sources of growth for me has been actively engaging and acting on the feedback I receive. For more on that, I strongly recommend Thanks for the Feedback by Sheila Heen. You're right that it's hard to get others to learn from feedback if they don't actively work at it. You can make your feedback easier to understand and more action-oriented. But if they're lazy or even just focused differently, your feedback to them won't be very effective. As a manager, I think it's still worthwhile to give as much feedback as I can. Some of it might be heard and acted on, which will help the receiver grow.

ali_ibrahim 10y ago
I still think if it incentivizes users in a very straightforward way then this is useful to them. In my reply to drakonka, i mention how it can be used in the career to be a super useful thing not only to them but to the companies where they work or intend to work as well. Do you think it should be done that way?
- joshyeager 10y ago
  Yes, that would be very interesting. As a hiring manager, I wouldn't make a decision based solely on that information, but I definitely would use it if it was available.
  - ali_ibrahim 10y ago
    Yes exactly! Cannot base the decision entirely on that but atleast the insights can be really interesting. It would be great if you can check out this thread (https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12142878 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12142878) and then give your related feedback. This is how i am trying to tackle this problem. From the feedback that i have got from this thread, however, feedback is a very personal thing and users who really want to improve themselves don't have a solution right now where they can privately request their coworkers(former or present) for this information and not get potentially penalized for it (if negative) by their existing managers in the performance review meetings.
bind 10y ago
Does "don't add your 2 cents" [1] contradict what you said? [1] - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12156234 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12156234
10921809211 10y ago
Where "grow" means "behave like the manager thinks is beneficial for the company". http://yosefk.com/blog/people-can-read-their-managers-mind.html http://yosefk.com/blog/people-can-read-their-managers-mind.h... Probably better than "Thanks for the Feedback" by Sheila Heen.
- joshyeager 10y ago
  Yeah, most feedback is going to come from what the giver feels is important, and a manager will usually prioritize what the company needs. A good manager will also prioritize the employee's own goals, but not every manager (or company) is mature enough to do both at the same time. But that doesn't mean that you as an individual can't get value from the feedback you receive. You just have to process it intentionally, instead of taking it at face value. That's one of my favorite points in Thanks for the Feedback.