How I Filter Feedback to Improve My Practice
As a principal, I receive emails that are sometimes critical of my decision-making. It’s part of the job, more so now with preparing for re-entry in the middle of a pandemic.
Yet this experience is only one of many emotionally-charged issues we manage. As leaders, how can we "separate the wheat from the chaff" when a person or a challenging experience offers information that might be helpful, but we struggle to understand it or use it toward growth?
Ask: what is this person or experience actually telling me?
Separate the message from the messenger. People lace information with bias and emotion. If you're a teacher, maybe a principal does not want to hurt your feelings, or they are on the opposite end and are ambivalent about how you will feel. Either way, we can be mindful about our own response by pausing to ask ourselves this question. The message can be what they say as well as what is embedded in the way they say it, although the latter is harder to discern.
Is what is being shared 100% accurate? If not, which part(s) might be?
Take a critical look at the information. If the feedback is from a person, is everything shared based on sound evidence and logic? Or if the information is from an experience, am I looking at it with a broad perspective, meaning not just the information I want to see or only focusing on the negative? We create narratives with information. These stories can make us blind to what we need to see. We may also become too hard on ourselves if feedback is critical of performance.
How can I apply this information to improve my work?
Understanding without action is all too common. Likely, we sit on feedback because we don't have a plan to apply it.
Consider the W.O.O.P. strategy for applying ideas for improvement (found here and shared here).
Wish (the what)
Outcome (the why)
Obstacles (the what if)
Plan (the how)
I have been using this routine lately, on a weekly basis. I will look back in my journal to assess how the previous week went, and then use that information to prepare for next week. We can only improve by focusing on a single pathway and one step at a time.
Keep going with the concept of continuous improvement - listen to Anthony Kim and I discuss the new school rules here.