from the Administration of Foxy Skillsets Acquisition.

This week we hear from the Bureau of Tactical Imagination's Administration of Foxy Skillsets Acquisition about an often overlooked but incredibly potent resource: our attention for others, and their attention for us. It's time to talk FEEDBACK!

Over at the Visionary Syndicate, the Bureau's comprehensive brand training program and community, we gather in coaching calls, in classes, and in small groups (called Tiny Conspiracies) to offer each other feedback on our branding work.

But we don't just set the timer and start rambling, no - we've got a whole directory of feedback methods that we can each use to make sure those mini feedback sessions do what we need them to -- and avoid what ISN'T useful.

(Have you ever had the experience of being frozen in the hotseat while listening to an endless stream of unhelpful advice in a group mastermind? It's a special kind of fresh hell which I avoid in Bureau programs.)

I want AGENCY in that hotseat. Consent. Creativity. Because with the right tools in hand, students' feedback for each other can be an even more valuable source of education than the teacher is!

If you are a participant in a program, class, or support group, you can make your turn so much more helpful by being very clear about the kind of feedback you want, and even more clear about what you don't - and then sticking to that boundary.

If you lead a community or teach a course with student feedback, take a look at how feedback is working - and not - amongst your students, and give them great tools to superpower their learning relationships.

Let's get down to it:

From the Directory of Feedback Formats, The Administration of Foxy Skillsets Acquisition Presents:

3 FEEDBACK TECHNIQUES for your CONSIDERATION:

Feedback Prompt No. 4: Mirror Ball

The student lays out the issue, challenge or opportunity they are working on, including context, detail, conflicts and possibilities. A “thinking out loud.”

The conspirators do not give advice, try to solve, or otherwise contribute. They simply repeat back the things they heard which stood out to them in importance, energy or emotion - as though marking them with a highlighter pen.

The student experiences a kind of mirroring of what was shared, which can reveal patterns they didn’t see, or important points they had glossed over.

Feedback Prompt No. 7: Double Agent

Two students switch businesses or projects, and present the challenges or opportunities to the group for feedback on each other's behalf - AS the other person.

Watching someone represent your business and attempt to meet its challenges, with you in the witnessing role, gets you noticing new things from a bit of distance. It's magic!

Feedback Prompt No. 12: Advisory Board

The student presents their question, problem, or opportunity and asks of the conspirators: “if this were you, in your work, how would YOU address this YOUR way?” The conspirators answer in turn, about their own work. The provocateur listens for ideas and approaches they had not considered and might try; but does not have to respond, agree, or affirm other folk's approaches.

I hope you give these a try.