Most of the things I do in my day to day, I do with good intentions. I say most, because I’m no angel, I have my faults and I must have a bias in one form or another (I may tackle bias on a future day’s thought).
So for instance, a colleague asked for feedback on a presentation, and I gave them just that. In fact I amended the very file they sent across to me. Now I didn’t do that with the thought that my version was the de facto presentation, I did it as a suggestion of how you could focus the viewer on certain sections of the slides. This I did from what I feel was a good place.
In the email I sent in reply I reiterated the reasons for my suggestions, and made it clear that I wasn’t precious if they cut chunks out, or ignored the whole shebang. Their version was pretty awesome to start with anyway.
Being the reflective individual I am, I wondered if my input would be taken in the spirit it was given. Were they genuinely asking for feedback or, affirmation? Had I miscalculated, and perhaps I would actually impact them in a negative way, rather than building them up.
Well I will be speaking with them soon, and I will ask how my suggestions came across, because without feedback, how can I now my impact?
“We all need people who will give us feedback. That’s how we improve.”
– Bill Gates
