Chapter 19 Exercises: Feedback
Exercise 1: Feedback Audit
Time required: 20 minutes
For a skill you're currently developing, audit your current feedback situation honestly.
Questions to answer in writing:
- Where does feedback on your performance currently come from? (Coach, teacher, peers, metrics, self-assessment, recording)
- How quickly does feedback arrive after a performance attempt?
- Is the feedback specific or generic?
- Is it process-focused or outcome-focused?
- Is it linked to observable behaviors?
- How often do you receive feedback — after every attempt, once a session, once a week?
Gap analysis: Now compare your current feedback system to the ideal described in this chapter. Where are the biggest gaps?
One-change commitment: Identify one specific, actionable change to your feedback system that you could implement immediately. Write it down and set a date to do it.
Exercise 2: The Recording Challenge
Time required: 30–60 minutes + reflection time Best for: Any skill with a physical or auditory performance dimension
This exercise requires courage. Record yourself performing a skill you think you're reasonably good at.
Step 1: Before watching or listening to the recording, write down your self-assessment. Specifically describe what you believe your performance looked or sounded like. What do you think you did well? What do you think needs improvement?
Step 2: Watch or listen to the recording. Write down what you actually observe — try to be as objective as a stranger watching themselves for the first time.
Step 3: Compare your self-assessment (Step 1) to your objective observation (Step 2). Where were they consistent? Where did they diverge? What did the recording show that your felt sense of the performance missed?
Step 4: Identify three specific, observable things you would work on based solely on what you saw in the recording.
Reflection prompt: How large was the gap between your mental model of your performance and what you actually saw? What does this gap tell you about the reliability of self-assessment without external feedback?
Exercise 3: Feedback Translation
Time required: 20 minutes
Take three pieces of vague or generic feedback you have actually received on a skill, and rewrite them as specific, process-oriented, actionable feedback.
Example transformation: - Original: "Your essay isn't very clear." - Rewritten: "The main claim of your argument isn't stated until the fourth paragraph — readers need to know what you're arguing before they can follow the evidence you're presenting. Move your thesis to the opening paragraph."
For each of your three pieces of feedback: 1. Write the original, vague feedback 2. Rewrite it as specific, observable, and actionable 3. Note: what additional information would you need to write the rewritten version? (This is what you should ask for when requesting feedback)
Exercise 4: Feedback Request Practice
Time required: 15 minutes preparation + interaction
Most people ask for feedback in ways that produce vague responses. This exercise practices asking for specific feedback.
The task: For a piece of work you've recently produced (a project, a practice performance, a piece of writing, a solution), write two feedback requests:
Version A (bad request): "What do you think? Any feedback?"
Version B (good request): A specific question that identifies exactly what you want feedback on, at what level of detail, and for what purpose. Example: "I'm specifically trying to understand whether my argument about X is logically sound — does each step follow from the previous one? I'm not looking for writing style feedback yet, just logical structure."
Compare the two requests. Which one is more likely to produce useful information? Which one is easier for the feedback-giver?
If possible, send Version B to an actual person with expertise in your domain and compare the response to what you'd typically receive from a Version A request.
Exercise 5: Process vs. Outcome Feedback Practice
Time required: 30 minutes
This exercise practices giving process feedback rather than outcome feedback. It's useful both for improving your own self-assessment and for improving feedback you give to others.
For a recent performance or piece of work:
Write outcome feedback first: What was the result? What score, time, or evaluation did it receive?
Then push further: write process feedback. For each aspect of the outcome, ask: - What process produced this outcome? - What specific decisions or techniques led to this result? - If the outcome was poor, what specifically in the process went wrong? - If the outcome was good, what specifically in the process can be replicated?
Challenge version: Do this for a skill you're coaching or teaching someone else in. Give them process feedback instead of outcome feedback for one session and observe whether they respond differently.
Exercise 6: Build a Feedback System
Time required: 30–45 minutes planning
This exercise asks you to design a comprehensive feedback system for a skill you're developing — not just a single feedback mechanism, but an integrated system.
Your feedback system should address:
- Immediate feedback during practice: How will you know, in real time, whether each practice attempt is correct?
- Session-level feedback: How will you know at the end of a practice session whether you improved?
- Progression feedback: How will you know week over week whether your practice is producing the improvement you intended?
- Blind spot coverage: What aspects of your performance might you consistently misjudge? How will you get feedback on exactly those aspects?
- Coach/mentor feedback: If you have access to someone more expert, how often and in what format will you seek their input?
Write a complete feedback system for your skill. Make it specific enough that you could implement it tomorrow.