Helpful Advice?

I give advice most often like I would like to receive advice. I want to know what I’m doing wrong. Doesn’t everyone? My default response may not be the best thing to do. It seems that from the research at Motivation Science Center at the Columbia University Business School the deciding factor is the person’s experience level for that activity.

T.C. North, referencing the research in an article in Enlightened Leadership magazine Feb. 2013 article “When is Negative Feedback Better than Positive Feedback,” says “it depends on the person’s level of mastery.  A novice needs positive feedback on what they are doing well. Otherwise, they will not learn the right skills and on top of that be discouraged. The expert needs feedback on what they are doing wrong. …beginners learn fastest with 100% specific positive feedback on the skills they are learning, while elite athletes (or experts) learn fastest with 100% feedback on the specifics of what they can improve. It’s a continuum.”

TC North’s specific advice:

• For the beginner. Give close to 100% specific, positive feedback. The beginner learns the fastest and is most excited and motivated.
• For those who are good. To help this person go from good to great, offer a combination of specific, positive feedback to reinforce what the person is doing correctly and specific, negative feedback to point out how the person can get better. Both are stated from a positive perspective of helping the other person. You know you have the right amounts of positive and negative feedback when the person you give the feedback to is grateful for it and motivated to improve.
• For the expert. They want to know how to improve, give them mostly very specific, negative feedback.

Good advice. Not that I beat everybody up with tough love, but I’ve not always been as discerning as I could be. This fits in well with Situational Leadership for those trainers that use Blanchard’s materials.