When most people think of feedback, they think of problems.
What went wrong.
What needs fixing.
What to do better next time.
That is half of feedback.
And it is the easier half.
The half almost everyone skips is telling people what is working.
We assume the good stuff is obvious.
If someone did something well, surely they know.
They usually do not.
People are far more aware of their mistakes than their strengths.
The thing they did well often does not even register to them.
So when you say nothing, they hear silence, and silence tends to read as neutral or negative.
Here is what changes when you name the good.
The person learns what to keep doing.
That sounds simple, but think about it.
If I only tell you what to stop, you know what to avoid, but not what to repeat.
Positive feedback is not a pat on the head.
It is direction.
It says do more of this, and it is just as useful as any correction.
But it only works if you do it the same way you should do the hard kind.
Be specific.
Do not say great job, it was fine by lunch.
Say the way you broke that problem into three steps in the meeting made it easy for everyone to follow.
Now they know exactly what worked, and they can do it again on purpose.
There is a quiet bonus, too.
When you regularly notice what people do well, the hard feedback lands better when it comes.
Because they know you are actually watching.
You are not only there when something breaks.
You see the whole picture, the good with the bad.
That builds trust, and trust is what makes any feedback usable.
So do not save your words only for what needs fixing.
Catch people doing things right, and tell them exactly what you saw.
It is not flattery.
It is one of the most useful things you can give someone.
And most people almost never get it.
Be the one who does.
– Asael Shinder
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