People Strategy

CHAPTER 3Performance and the Importance of Feedback

I am profoundly unathletic, and sports analogies don't come naturally to me. But indulge me while I try, in hopes of communicating the importance of continuous feedback.

Imagine you are a baseball coach. Your pitcher is struggling with his control – his fastball is up, his slider is down, and his curve is hanging over the middle of the plate. Seemingly unable to get anyone out, the other team's batters are teeing off on him with each at bat. As he grows increasingly frustrated, you pay close attention to his form, attempting to diagnose the problem. Soon enough, you've got it figured out – a small, but crucial aspect of his delivery is off. With one minor adjustment, you're fairly certain he'd find his groove. One tweak and your pitcher would be unhittable.

What would you do? Would you head out to the mound and give him a quick tip then and there so that he could make an immediate adjustment? Or would you wait six months, allowing the minor issue not to only derail the possibility of winning this game, but also set him – and the team – off course for the rest of the season?

Even if you've never been in a dugout before, you know exactly what you would do – you'd have the pitcher fix the issue when it first arises. It's common sense.

And yet, so many companies have a performance feedback culture that features exactly the opposite; they wait until the end of year. For decades, the dreaded “performance review” was a once-a-year ...