Twofer Tuesday: On Anonymous Feedback & Original Thought
?? Michael Bungay Stanier
Author of *The Coaching Habit* (1 million+ sold), *How to Work with (Almost) Anyone* & more ? I help people unlock greatness: theirs and others' ? #1 thought leader on coaching ?Top rated keynote speaker ? Rhodes Scholar
If you follow this blog, it won’t come as a surprise that I’m an advocate of going against the grain and challenging our default settings. That’s how some of our greatest visionaries and innovators found their success. And that’s precisely what this week’s Twofer examines. The first piece considers whether conventional methods of employee engagement are friend or foe. The second stirs up the grey matter to uncover the surprising habits of original thinkers.
Underachievers Anonymous?
Every day, companies around the world commit a cardinal corporate sin without even knowing it. The offence? Conducting anonymous feedback.
Anonymity has its merits. But this article in Forbes spells out exactly how anonymous feedback can hamstring efforts to encourage Great Work from your employees and cultivate an environment of innovation.
“Once anonymity is introduced as the norm, the providers of feedback are less specific because details may reveal their identity. This theft of context manifests in six ways, all of which can undermine the learning, openness, courage, and adaptability required for an entrepreneurial culture to take root.”
Read: 6 Ways Anonymous Feedback Robs Your Team Blind and What to Do about It
An Original: The Thinking Person’s Guide to Creativity
You've heard the adage “The early bird catches the worm.” While there may be some plump robins out there benefiting from that line of thought, we can’t always fall back on old assumptions.
In this terrific TED Talk, organizational psychologist Adam Grant offers up golden nuggets on how creative people come up with great ideas. Spoiler alert! He isn’t afraid to flip popular sayings and tenets on their heads. To wit, procrastination can be a virtue; doubt and fear need not be avoided; and, sometimes, more is more.
Watch: The Surprising Habits of Original Thinkers
Psst: Have you joined our Tools for the Time-Crunched Manager LinkedIn group? It’s designed to inspire and help you conquer the day-to-day challenges of your workday.
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About Michael Bungay Stanier
Michael is the Senior Partner at Box of Crayons, a company that teaches 10-minute coaching so that busy managers can build stronger teams and get better results. His most recent book, The Coaching Habit, has sold a quarter of a million copies. Michael is a Rhodes Scholar and was recently recognized as the #3 Global Guru in coaching. Visit BoxofCrayons.com for more information.
Mars HR Digital Technologies | Transformation | Workday | Mars Global Services
7 年I liked the linked Forbes article that listed some great arguments for bulding trust through optional anonymous feedback.
Design strategist & facilitator. Thought partner. Problem solving partner. Untangler of messes and complexities. Maker of things to test assumptions. Underwater photographer at scubagirl.ca and artist at andreaong.art
7 年Thank you for this, Michael. Having received anonymous subjective feedback, I can affirm that it's hard to take action on. Unactionable feedback doesn't serve the real purpose of feedback and is toxic to the recipient.