A631.3.4.RB - Feedback and Goals

Feedback refers to informing someone - in a timely and ongoing basis - how they are performing, and includes both positive and negative observations (Brown, 2011, p. 371). As an educator, supervisor and advisor, providing feedback is a skill that I comprehend and continue to learn about formally and informally. I understand how valuable words are, and try to use them to build leaders. In that same way, I must set goals for myself and encourage the goals others have for themselves, providing resources for growth however I can.

Brown (2011) discusses that any one born after 1980 requires more feedback than those born before that date. He highlights the generational implications regarding the amount of feedback; specifically the Millennial (Generation Y) as opposed to older generations and their desire for more feedback. Millennials, those born from 1981 to 2000, make up more than 50 percent of the workforce to date.
Millennials grew up with the ever-present parent and grew up believing they can do anything; therefore, they are used to people celebrating their every accomplishment and feel enormous academic pressure.

This is the case for me. I want to know everything. It is a terrible goal by most standards, and perhaps even a flaw.

It seems obvious that setting goals should be based on achievable outcomes, but from a personal perspective I have learned that everyone's definition of achievable is different. Most people set low goals, then settle for what life gives them, hence the mediocrity of the workplace or the apathetic academic. One cannot simply pass at life! As Benjamin Franklin said, "Some people die at 25 and aren't buried until 75." I claim this as statistically accurate. We should not be miserable should-have-beens for a half-century. However, work can sometimes make us into these stagnant, mentally-withered beings that were so close to our dreams, but quit. Often bosses sort value of employee with the most archaic way of discussing goals, by limiting them, which they call the SMART goal. I can only imagine that those who are most settled, desiring nothing more than what they are, are deemed the best.

As Clay Waters notes in his article, Why SMART Goals Suck And How You Should Set Goals (2015),

SMART goals were created in a time of steady state and incremental optimization. Slow and steady incremental improvement in the professional world is sure to get one one thing, left behind.

See the display to the left.  I completely disagree with the definition of most of these segments. First, SMART goals are not for employees; they are for employers, so all of the you statements should be focused on the evaluator. Who is to say my goals are not attainable? The reactions I have seen from such goal possibilities are "that has never been done before" and "I don't know anyone else doing that". These types of reactions are those of the mentally withered and settled. SMART goals are limited, cold and do not seem to get on the path to accomplishing anything. They remind me of the letter. Useful, but drastically outdated. I still write letters at times in which I am not pressed about when someone receives them; and yes, they are seemingly sentimental. However, I'd prefer to send an email, or call them, on any other day, to check it off of my list. A lot has changed since 1968! Perhaps this is the goal of SMART: trying to get to know their new worker, while trying to find a way to evaluate them. However, goals are a to-do list of action. Measure me by creativity and output. There are so many way to get to the end, why waste time drawing the path? Do I fail the journey if I get to the goal another way, or are points taken off for not sticking to the plan?

The surveillance in the path to achievement is nearly policing. I want to be empowered in life. Self-motivation is best, but I do not want to be told to pipe down when I share what I was asked to share, particularly about myself. I was once told in my first year of college, when discussing my life goals, that "the A in SMART stands for attainable." That is my biggest challenge. I have goals that seem impossible to some people. Internally, I hear them saying, "it's possible, but not for you." And I've always heard that, and I seem to prove people wrong then leave them behind. If I know I am not appreciated somewhere, it is a waste of time to be there. My supervisees are not interested in staying in education, so a lot of our conversations are about their futures. I ask them how this job can help get them to the next place. We do not discuss setbacks (as the SMART cousin, SWOT, does). In preparing for a road trip, who talks about the eventual traffic? I am not saying to ignore the negatives, but are they not so obvious, they need not be mentioned? The next goal should be more unbelievable than the last. Life is not to be survived, but experienced! I do not live to work. I wouldn't consider a lifetime at the same place doing the same thing a life (for me).

This is how I feel writing this.

I learned within the course of the MSLD program that work is not about ideas or even output, in most environments. The work needs to be good, but the deference needs to be superb. Today's bosses are still much like they have always been painted. They seem to want employees to praise them and (as one of my favorite books notes) don't outshine the master. This has been a constant pull on my heart; there MUST be a workplace that has surpassed the 20th century! I have learned that it is certainly better to lay down and shut up, lest the tallest blade of grass get mowed.  However, there is a comfort in being quiet. You hear information that others have shared. It's hard for people to forget the conversations they have with you, since your opinions and requests are few and far between. When you then do make noise, people listen. Then pursue your passions in other ways; passions are not always going to be acknowledged or seen as valuable at work. As Amazon’s CEO Jeff Bezos notes in 'SMART' Goals Can Sometimes Be Dumb, I am trying to “exercise new muscles, never mind how uncomfortable and awkward-feeling those first steps might be.” The temporary pain of smiling when I do not feel like smiling, and biting my tongue when I have an opinion is taxing, but it seems to add to a better... something.

I am a Millennial, but am also very absorbent of the Generation X personality. GenXers are infamously known disliking their workplace. Xers believe their managers ignore ideas from employees, and are disenchanted with the ‘do-it because I said so’ management in place (Tolbize, 2008). Xers and Millennials have a few things in common. Both are comfortable with authority figures and are not impressed with titles or intimidated by them (Tolbize, 2008). Older generations, those of the GenX and older, want a boss with credibility and experience; Millennials appreciate a leader who listens well and answers their many curious questions (Deal, 2007). I want a fusion of both.

I require feedback, but I expect it to be mostly about how amazing I am. It only matters, however, if the person telling me is someone I respect. This person is someone who I have shared passions with and someone I see as a mentor. People do not usually give me feedback, as I converse rather than accept their criticisms without question. I've learned that I am just about the only person in my workplaces that can find a way to put the less-than-stellar in between accolades, and can defend my examples of areas of growth. I believe accolades keep people engaged and support relationships, particularly my younger employees. If you don't care about people, you don't try to do this; telling someone they have a laundry list of flaws is great way to develop someone into a terrible employee.

In the course discussions, I appreciate others opinions, and want to see how people think; but unless

This is the mantra of my management style.

something I do directly counters the truth, I want it to be respected, and at times this does not happen. I disagree with authors and will support my beliefs with others. I do not believe that because someone writes a book, they have the best opinion on every subject within. When the situation arises in which I receive no feedback or poor feedback, particularly for a poor grade, I begin to dig in into where I went wrong. What was I thinking? What was the professor expecting? What percentage of personal input vs. scholarly citation are they looking for? I want feedback; however, more so than that (and only slightly), I want a perfect grade.

I suppose I take this into the real world at times and disappoint myself; however, it does not stop me from working longer and harder than others. I've learned to work just a bit smarter, too. This has provided me with an excellent high performance work history. I appreciate feedback, particularly from those who know what I actually do, and have done it before. When I receive good feedback I feel that supervisors value me and respect me, and that is how I want my supervisees to feel. Brown notes that “frequent, relevant, and specific feedback […] occurs as soon after the work activity as possible” (Brown, 2011). If I am going to get critiqued, it needs to happen when I did it, not weeks or months down the line. It is nearly useless to tell me about things that were never addressed in the moment; I may not even remember the instance. Delegating and downing leads to more frustration than learning. However, with my supervisees, I contact them as soon as possible to get their self-evaluation of things, highlight was was doing well, areas of improvement, confidence to do it over in another situation better, and offer to be a resources (and actually come through when they call). In the future, I will reflect on how I handled the situation and ask my supervisees, "what could I have done better in x situation?" I trust they will tell me the truth, because I have laid the framework for open communication. I see this as the future of management.

References

Brown, D. (2011). An experiential approach to organizational development. (8th ed.). New Jersey: Prentice Hall.

Deal, J. J. (2007). Retiring the generation gap: How employees young and old can find common ground. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. ISBN: 0787985252

Murphy, Mark. (2015). 'SMART' Goals Can Sometimes Be Dumb. Forbes. Accessed at http://www.forbes.com/sites/markmurphy/2015/01/08/smart-goals-can-sometimes-be-dumb/

Tolbize, Anick. (2008). Generational differences in the workplace. University of Minnesota. Accessed at http://rtc3.umn.edu/docs/2_18_Gen_diff_workplace.pdf