Feedback – ‘yes – but’ or ‘yes – and’?
Feedback – ‘yes – but’ or ‘yes – and’? https://medicalimprovgb.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/AdobeStock_80387095-1024x599.jpeg 1024 599 Esther Waterhouse https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/2bfdf85c839abc30e1a05f32c9401e6c?s=96&d=mm&r=gHave you ever had feedback that started with what you did well, before moving onto what you
did less well, before finishing with a positive? Or perhaps just what you did well, before moving
to what you did less well? I wonder how you felt afterwards and what you took away from it?
Too often we feedback with ‘yes – but’ as our framework. ‘The initial stages of that procedure
went really well but you need to work on your dissection technique’ or ‘I really liked the way you
introduced yourself to the family but you could have been clearer with your language’. The
other person hears ‘you are rubbish at surgery’ or ‘you can’t explain anything’ The positive
comments at the start get negated by the ‘but’.
What might feedback based on ‘yes – and’ look like?
Perhaps something like this ‘The initial stages of that procedure went really well, and I think we
can move on now to looking at your dissection technique’ or ‘I really liked the way you
introduced yourself to the family … and I think we could use some time to work on how to make
your message really clear and jargon free’.
In a medical improv session we look at the difference the ‘yes – and’ approach makes and
practise it in lots of different ways. Doing this without any medical or health care content makes
it fun and easy to experiment with, ready to take the principles back into practice.
