I have written and taught for years seeking to stop the “machine” started by 360 degree feedback and building of self-esteem guru Nathaniel Braden. It should be enough to know that it was originated by the German Military. They first began gathering feedback from multiple sources in order to evaluate performance during World War II (Fleenor & Prince, 1997). They lost the war remember and used it for motives that defy imagination. The US Navel Office of Research also tried this out through Sensitivity groups with the intention of understanding how to influence effectively the behavior of others. It is part of the school of behavior modification and not self-organizing systems. Feedback has so many downsides it is hard to list them all. And there are so many better ways to achieve the gains that do emerge. A recent book on child rearing is laying out the neuroscience of part of the damage. Their suggestions about the replacement are not well tested or conceived, but the “literal” brain deformation is clear from cumulative studies. Worth buying: Nurture Shock by Po Bronson and Ashley Merryman. But a better idea to substitute is…
…reflection. What is ever better than limiting and targeting praise (a do less harm model) is building internal locus of control for each child and adult but engaging them in reflecting on their own experience and finding their own improvements. I have so many papers on this topic I will not try to rewrite them all here. If nothing changes, I believe in another 30 years it will be understood that these external feedback processes we have institutionalized have caused a loss of our innovative society and even our global leadership. Not to mention a declining graduation rate from school. If all goes well, the new Regenerative Schools and Developmental Business approaches will catch on fast enough that people will again become their own best mirror and adviser, drawing what they need from others in the context of their own self-managed growth processes. This is the basis of a healthy vital innovative society, company and community.