Why positive feedback matters

Our brains are pretty incredible. I’m not sure why that’s surprising, given that we are the masterpiece – the absolute jewel in the crown – of the Ultimate Creator’s handiwork. But honestly, it’s awe-inspiring when you dig into the way our physical and emotional selves function together.

Here are the basics:

Our brain has the limbic system (emotional brain) and the prefrontal cortex (the analytical brain). The limbic system has a more powerful impact on our behaviours – we make strong links between the way an experience made us feel, and those links affect the way we will respond to similar situations in the future.

The route emotions take into our brains is via the amygdala. This bit of our brain is responsible for handling strong emotions like pleasure, anger or fear. In response to our experiences, it will produce attachment (positive) emotions or avoidant (negative) emotions that are filed in our brains ready to direct our response to situations that look similar in future.

Now, here’s the interesting bit; the bit that makes positive feedback so important:

‘...positive emotions generally work in an opposite way to negative emotions. So, while emotions like fear, anxiety, stress and anger narrow our focus, inhibit our concentration and decrease our cognitive abilities, positive emotions can do the opposite. When we are feeling upbeat and happy, we are more likely to have an inclusive focus than a self-centred outlook, and to perform better on cognitively demanding tasks.’*

Many of us in professional Comms/Brand/Marketing roles have a core requirement to generate work that's submitted for review, feedback and detailed critique. In those roles, we each carry our own responsibility for ensuring we hold work lightly – separating our own identities from the outputs we generate – and developing self-awareness of how we maintain our emotional robustness.

But there is a responsibility that sits with those tasked with critiquing work. It’s unreasonable for us to expect each other to receive continuous feedback where the balance is so heavily-weighted on suggestions for change without that eventually impacting our ability to perform to the best of our ability. If our amygdala doesn't receive enough of those positive emotional triggers, it eventually leaves us running on fumes with a decreasing sense of confidence and self-belief.

We owe it to each other to take time to provide balanced feedback. That means asking questions like

• Have I been specific and detailed in my positive feedback?
• Are my suggested changes all critical, or are some of them a moot point/issue of opinion, and could therefore be removed?
• Have I connected recently with this individual outside of the critique process? Am I building the relational capital that we need in order to work well together??

In the spirit of ‘show don’t tell’, here’s a snippet from a Slack convo about a colleague’s recent experience:

‘...it can feel really overwhelming when there are lots of changes and you’re thinking “how did I get this so wrong?!” and a quick bit of encouragement makes all the difference!’

As the cost of living crisis roars on around us, the state of society – the ever-more extreme experiences of UK poverty that we’re hearing about, our own struggles and worries – is hard on us all. Now is not the time to hold back on opportunities to build up, edify and support one another.

I’m on a personal mission to get better at this, because as much as I’m on the receiving end, I am in a prime position to deliver a better experience for all those who I’m working with too. And I’m also on a personal mission to celebrate moments where others get it right. Yes, I'm encouraging those who encourage. I hope you’re inspired to join me.

*https://www.iedp.com/articles/how-the-brain-responds-to-feedback/