Perfect Feedback (Intern Edition)
We tend not to think about feedback much. For some reason it hits a cognitive dam. We all must think we are doing everything perfectly well that any feedback threatens that view. I feel that way often. Don't you? But, where would you and I be without feedback? It is worth contemplating.
Rivers and Resistance
Consider bodies of water embrace feedback all the time. It is by design. A river is pulled by gravity forward through the path of least resistance. Come up to a big rock? Just go around it. Head towards a portion that goes uphill? Slide away from it – perhaps after pooling up for a while. It is all feedback on where to go next. The river is constantly getting a “no” to go this way and a “yes” to go that way. It is incredible to think about it from that perspective, isn’t it?
We tend to think of resistance as bad. I mean, if no one ever resisted me then life would be grand. If no one ever gave me feedback I could just keep doing what I want to do. Why do I need feedback from anyone or anything? The answer is simple. Without feedback, like a river, you will never get to where you really ought to go. You would never improve, never see something new about yourself and others, and never really understand the world you live in. The prospect of that is disheartening.
It Is Just Training
At Agile Rainmakers, we train our interns to be hungry for feedback. It is their access to heading further downstream, where they want to be. We make feedback a rewarding habit for everyone, including me. And it starts with the initial interview. When it “ends” I ask if they want feedback on the interview they just had. Guess how often I get a “yes”? Every. Time.
Students are actually so appreciative to receive interview feedback because it just never happens. The feedback is always empowering, detailed, and delivered in a caring way. And it is all part of their training. This is how we will relate should they intern at Agile Rainmakers.
Mapping It To You
Bringing it to you and your life, where are you resisting feedback? What new direction ought you be going, if you would just bring beginner’s mind to what you are told? Where are you certain there is no room for improvement, yet the greatest breakthroughs await you?
A river flows in what seems to be a meandering path knowing not where it goes. The truth is that each moment in its journey it is fully embracing the next new step. For unlike you and me, it does what is natural moment to moment. May you start thinking about feedback often in this new way as it maps out and leads you to the amazing future you seek. Now that would be perfect, wouldn’t it?
Here's to you and your awesome future.
Until then, keep your feet on the board and keep riding your wave!
Robert J. Khoury
CEO Agile Rainmakers