“It's what you learn after you know it all that counts.” 

~Attributed to Harry S. Truman

A Culture of Learning

By Colleen Kelly

Our children have always had a number of nicknames - one of our younger dotter’s is “Feedback Franny.” She is always ready to talk with the surveyor when Ipsos Reid calls, she completes the customer satisfaction cards, and she is interested in providing her opinion to any business. Many effective companies seek that feedback and turn the answers into changes that are good for their business. However, as individuals, do we seek that kind of feedback to turn the responses we receive into changes that make us more effective in our workplaces? I think that is what a culture of learning is all about – and it could serve Not-for-Profit organizations very well to really focus on learning. That means everyone has to be ready for feedback – often listening to comments they don’t want to hear – in order to improve the effectiveness of the execution of their organization’s mission. If all the people (paid and unpaid human resources) focus on learning how to do their work better, and no longer are content with the status quo, ultimately we might see the numbers of homeless, hungry, victims of violence, etc. decrease, rather than continue to rise.

There is considerable research available on the feedback-learning link. We also know that in raising children with self esteem, we have often been so focused on the positive comments that critical feedback is discouraged. Yet we know that sincere, challenging feedback can promote learning.

One of the most difficult facets of this culture of learning is that it does start from the top down. The business books state that the closer you get to the top, the less likely you are to ever receive accurate feedback. So it can be very rare to discover this culture in the private sector. The USA Today article, “It's lonely — and thin-skinned — at the top,” is about CEO feedback. Because it speaks about business leaders we may think it does not apply to the Not-for-Profit. However, let’s examine some of the general points around sincere learning feedback we know to be true:

1. Focus on the behaviour, not the person. It is important that we refer to what a person does rather than to what we think he is. Thus we might say that a person "talked more than anyone else in this meeting" rather than that he is a "loud-mouth."
2. Keep the words descriptive (not evaluative) so the person will not immediately become defensive. By describing your reactions, it leaves the individual free to use  them or not  as he sees fit.
3. Avoid accusations; present data if necessary.
4. Suggest more acceptable alternatives; be prepared to discuss additional alternatives; focus on alternatives.
5. Take into account both the receiver and the giver of feedback. It is given to help, not to hurt. We too often give feedback because it makes us feel better or gives us a psychological advantage.
6. Pay close attention to the timing (soon after the behaviour-depending, of course, on the person's readiness to hear it, support available from others, and so forth). Excellent feedback presented at an inappropriate time may do more harm than good.
7. Share information, rather than give advice. This allows a person to decide for herself, in accordance with her own goals. When we give advice we tell her what to do, and to some degree take away her freedom to decide for  herself.
8. Check to insure clear communication. One way of doing this is to have the receiver try to rephrase the feedback. No matter what the intent, feedback is often threatening and thus subject to considerable distortion or misinterpretation.
9. Pay attention to the consequences of the feedback. The supervisor needs to be acutely aware of the effects of her feedback.
10. Understanding is an important step toward authenticity. Sincere feedback opens the way to a relationship which is built on trust, honesty, and genuine concern for mutual growth.

Are CEO’s and Executive Directors in the Not-for-Profit sector more likely to be able to keep all this in mind and encourage feedback among - and from - their colleagues? Even if they have it in place for others in their organization, do they also consider it part of their learning process? Somehow I don’t think so – and that means many of our workplaces will not really benefit from on-the-job learning. We will continue to do our work the best way we know how. We will continue to have compelling missions. Will we spend time on our own organizational excellence to ensure a full scale investment in a culture of learning?

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The mission of Volunteer Vancouver is to inspire & build leadership in the voluntary sector. This publication is intended to be a medium of communication and information for the many organizations active in the volunteer and not-for-profit sector. The opinions expressed herein are solely those of the writers and do not necessarily reflect official policy of the Board of Directors of Volunteer Vancouver.

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