1 % technique for taking feedbacks

It is probably for the first time in my blogs that I am narrating a management concept giving the preface of my experience. '1 % technique - a  technique to take feedback'  is a part of one of the my major learning in my career. And I thought this technique deserves much more weightage than any other blogs I have written till date - simply because most of my blogs till date is all about what needs to be done to improve yourself, and this is all about how to improve yourselves.

This is the easiest and most effective way I have ever learned to take feedbacks.

To give you a background, like anyone , I too have had limitations in my personality when I was scaling up as a manager. To scale from a 'project manager' to 'head of operations' of a business vertical for the company almost overnight was a challenge by itself. Mainly because the dimensions and scale of problem I had to deal with in the new role were more challenging.

One of the main difficulties I faced was how to balance between my ambition to keep up to the expectation of my seniors with respect to the role I am handling v/s  the feedbacks which are coming.

If I am getting more feedbacks than the value add I am doing, then there is natural question raised on my capability to handle the role. And obviously when u take up high responsibility early in your career, you ought to go through steep learning curve and will be subject to feedbacks - and this is true how much ever capable you are.

This blog links well as a continuation of one of my previous blogs 'Career planning - A journey from having potential to building capability'  <http://mentorsofmanagement.blogspot.com/2010/09/career-planning-journey-from-having.html>. In that I explained the significance of understanding that merely having potential doesn’t mean anything, but the success lies in building the capability through enough experience and expertise.  In this blog I am explaining one of the techniques of how to grow from 'having potential' to 'building capability'

This is called '1 % technique' which I a explaining below.

Whenever you get a feedback, ask the following question to you "Do you agree with the feedback and think you need to improve?" If yes, just go ahead and change your style of working to impart the feedback. Normally people do this part correctly.

For example, If you are not good at a language and If someone tells, your verbal is not good, you need to improve, in all probability you will agree and work towards it. This is an easy kill.

If you don’t agree, then comes the problem. The general belief is that any feedback that you don’t agree is not correct - and ironically this is incorrect. Whenever you have a disagreement, it doesn’t mean the feedback is incorrect. it simply means, there is an element of correctness as well as incorrectness.

Now the trick lies in isolating what exactly is correct and acting up on it. But how to do it? Apply the 'one percent technique'.

Ask yourself the question "Of the feedback received, is there even one percent of the same which you think is a relevant feedback for you?"

If 'YES', isolate the element which you think truly matters your scale up. Remember, Most of the feedbacks comes colored with either other people's perception or ignorance about you, the actual situation etc. So it is easy for it to come the way you don’t like it.  And it is easy for you to blindly turn it down for simple reason that you don’t like it.

On contrary, also remember that feedbacks doesn't come out of thin air. It definitely has some amount of truth and back ground to it.

Tricky!! Isn't it? But it isn't  in fact. You know why?

 1. People who generally you don’t like or who doesn’t like you.

 2. Your mangers, team members, peers etc who also happens to be you well wishers

Its strong and undesirable feedbacks can come from either of the above stake holders which helps to hike up to next level. You just need to dare to accept it.

Now there is another part of story which is also as important as feedback,

Never ever mistake smooth pampering from your mother, friends and some relatives as feedback. Their emotions attached with you is different and doesn’t come from the realm of a your improvement. Those are the emotions which gives your support and comfort in being confident. Definitely feel good about it, but never get overwhelmed. Keep it as your reserve morale boosters :). It will help you when u r down.

So, your true success and maturity lies in understanding a true feedback and isolating the part of feedback which actually makes a difference for you and adapting to it.

1 % technique is all about helping you to do that. Without this technique in all probability, you might turn down a non-soothing feedback straight away and leave the stoned unturned, hampering your own growth.

One of my best mentors lucidly told to me in one of my feedback sessions when I was trying to be defensive "Take the feedback if you feel there is even one percent truth in the same". After applying and proving it a good technique during many feedbacks, I am sharing this with you now.

Hope you will help yourselves by applying this technique. I love feedbacks, I am sure there is scope of improvements in how I depict my thought processes through my blogs. I welcome you to be my critics and wellwishers at the same time. Do give me feedbacks and do take feedbacks appropriately.

I still am on the out look for even better ways to take feedbacks. Till then keep applying the '1 % technique'

Happy taking feedbacks!