At Summiteers, the bar is high in everything we do. An important key to success lies in keeping an eye on things that could be better and untapped potential. This ensures that we not only grow as individuals, but also as a team and organization. In this blog, Simone Halink, management consultant at Summiteers, explains how speaking to each other contributes to a culture of learning and development, how we approach that within our team, and what we can learn from Netflix's feedback culture.

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Feedforward as an engine for continuous growth

At Summiteers, we are always working on how we can develop ourselves and help each other do so. We therefore firmly believe in the importance of addressing each other by openly and honestly sharing behavioral observations and constructive suggestions for improvement. Here, we have a strong preference for feedforward over feedback. After all, the whole idea of feedforward is to give each other instructions on how to do things better in the future. Feedback is about reflecting on the past; we find it much more useful to focus on improvement and growth together.

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How we integrate feedforward

At Summiteers, we have many check-in moments that focus on development and behavior. For example, we work with accountability partnerships for personal learning goals. In addition, in every project meeting, we discuss standard TOJs, or Training on the Job. Here we look at everyone's learning goal within the project and give each other tips and tricks about what we've seen and what could be better. Feedforward giving is therefore ingrained in Summiteers' culture, but of course it can always be better.

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What we can learn from Netflix

A number of Summiteers recently read the book No Rules Rules. In this book, Reed Hastings, the CEO of Netflix, gives you a behind-the-scenes look at the company. Our colleagues were inspired by Netflix's “radical feedback culture” — which not only encourages personal development, but also collaboration and focus on a high quality standard. During our Summit Days, the Summiteers version of heath days, we thought it would be interesting to reflect with the team on what we can learn and borrow from Netflix.

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The challenges of giving and receiving feedforward

Despite our attention to feedforward, during our Summit Days, we noticed that many colleagues still feel a certain reluctance to give it. It is often also a challenging thing to do, to appeal to someone by their behavior. After all, you're appealing to the other person about a vulnerability and — by doing that — you're also making yourself vulnerable. You also often have to consciously create a moment for it amidst hustle and bustle. The fact that almost everyone finds it difficult was a valuable eye opener. An even bigger eye-opener was that almost everyone indicated that they wanted to receive feedforward even more often. By knowing that about each other, you can help each other do it more often. It doesn't have to be all perfect right away; a slightly less perfect attempt is always better than not doing it at all.

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The importance of an open culture

It is generally more difficult to address someone who is hierarchically above you than to a colleague. The higher up the proverbial tree, the less feedforward you receive. During our Summit Days, we also invited clients, whom I interviewed in a kind of College Tour-like setting. They confirmed that, as a manager, you indeed run the risk of getting less feedforward, while they really appreciate and need such input to keep growing. This underlines how important it is for management to create space to be addressed themselves, and thus to stimulate a culture of openness and honesty.

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Practical example

From experience, we know that it is easy to appeal to a client in a leadership position about his or her behavior. Recently, we were in a meeting where the client made a comment that, although rightly so, came across as rather unfortunate. As a result, the dynamic in the meeting changed completely. We then find it our job to discuss this later with the client, to understand exactly what is happening and to give tips on how this can be done differently next time. In fact, this is always received very positively and results in great conversations.

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The power of intent behind feedforward

The most important conclusion from our conversation was that the goal of feedforward should always be to help each other move forward. At Netflix, they call this “aim to assist”. If the intention behind feedforward is positive, it will soon be received in that way. Another simple example is something that happened between Daphne and me. At Summiteers, we stick to our corporate identity. At one point, I had made a presentation that just wasn't tight enough; it had some flaws and Daphne spoke to me about them. Isn't it really nice when someone just says that to you honestly? If it's well-intentioned, you can hardly help but embrace it. This type of feedforward, no matter how small, helps you grow and get better at what you do.

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Make feedforward a habit

When was the last time you spoke to someone? And what was the last improvement tip you received? If you like to make “talking to each other” also a topic of discussion in your own team, organize a session with your team and/or agree to give each other feedback at least once a day for a week. You'll find that even the smallest suggestions have a big impact on your team's collaboration and development. Start small and make feedforward an integral part of your work culture.

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