What the research really says about Interpersonal Feedback

In April 2019 a book entitled ‘Nine Lies About Work: a freethinking leader’s guide to the real world of work’ was published. One of the chapters or “lies” within the book is that “people need feedback”. The essence of this chapter and the author’s arguments were republished in the March – April 2019 edition of the Harvard Business Review in an article entitled ” The feedback fallacy (available here:https://hbr.org/2019/03/the-feedback-fallacy ). It is worth noting that the book has been published by Harvard Business Review Press (2nd April 2019) and the front page of that month’s Harvard Business Review carried the splash headline “Why Feedback Fails: criticising people doesn’t help them excel. There’s a better way.”

One of our members contacted us after having read the book and asked if the research supported the assertions being made in the book. In other words, is feedback a valid or invalid activity?

This is an important topic, as many aspects of personal development are based on interpersonal feedback.

This special report looks at what the research actually says about feedback.