Ep #68: The Best Way to Get Feedback

Episode 68, The Best Way to Get Feedback.

Welcome to Clinicians Creating Impact, a show for physical therapists, occupational therapists, and speech-language pathologists looking to take the next step in their careers and make a real difference in the lives of their clients. If you’re looking to improve the lives of neurodiverse children and families with neurological-based challenges, grow your own business, or simply show up to help clients, this is the show for you. 

I’m Heather Branscombe, Therapist, Certified Coach, Clinical Director, and Owner of Abilities Neurological Rehabilitation. I have over 25 years of experience in both the public and private sectors, and I’m here to help you become the therapist you want to be, supporting people to work towards their dreams and live their best lives. You ready to dive in? Let’s go.

Hi there, friend, I hope you’re doing well today. I have just come off what I would consider a busier season for me because we’ve had a networking event and an Abilities social event this month. And ultimately it’s just helped me to understand how much I love working with great clinicians just like you, and why I love doing podcast episodes like these. 

Now, as I do my work, I come across these tips and tricks every so often. And sometimes even the bigger issues come up. And what I’m noticing is as I notice them, I just love jotting them down and sharing with you when they happen. And so today’s topic is actually something that I picked up from a year-long course that I’m taking. 

As some of you may know, one of the things that I’m really enjoying in my current role is expanding my coaching skills to be a better leader and to better help our collective professional, and even industry as a whole. I finished my first intensive certification in coaching in 2022, and I decided that I wanted to expand on my skill set this year. So I’m involved in a different certification that comes from a slightly different perspective that involves coursework and meeting for the balance of 2024. 

Now, fun fact about me, I actually loved being a student and I love learning so much. So this coursework that comes up at the same time every week is actually one of the best parts of my week. But I’m also really excited to share some of the things that I learned that I think might be of help to you in your work right here, right now on the podcast episodes. 

And that brings us to the topic today. This way of getting feedback is so powerful that they actually teach it in Harvard Business School. And yet you can use it just as effectively in your work as a clinician. But as I’m teasing it, can you tell that I’m teasing it? Before I share the way to get this feedback and how I think you can use it at work, I have a little small ask of you. 

I know so many of you know this, but this podcast is a passion project of mine because I really do want all clinicians that hear this, the ability to use this kind of tool set as a way to magnify their impact, even if they never work either alongside us at Abilities or with us at Abilities. And one way you can really help me to do that is to help to spread this message. 

And spreading the message of this podcast, you can help me do that in a couple of concrete ways. First, if you follow, rate, and review this podcast, it really does help feed the algorithm so when a clinician is looking for resources, something like this podcast will come up for them. Second, if you could actually share this podcast, or better yet a favorite episode of yours, with a colleague that you know, like, and trust. 

If you’ve heard this before and you’ve meant to do this before, maybe you haven’t done it yet, maybe you have done it. If you haven’t, it’s okay. Let this be the sign. Today’s the day that you can actually help your fellow clinician friends. 

And if this is your first episode, welcome. Thank you so much for listening. And hopefully, as you listen to this episode and future episodes, you can decide who of your clinical besties would love to hear more of this kind of information to help them at work. Thank you again so much in advance for your action here. And with that, I want to get back to the episode. 

So as I mentioned before, this powerful way of getting feedback actually comes from the work of Chris Argyris in a model that he developed at the Harvard School of Business. Now, unfortunately, Dr. Argyris has since passed on, but his legacy in this model and a statement that you can use lives on today. 

What he found is that most people in business or even in clinical work never actually ask for disconfirmation, but the ones who actually do and succeed to do that are the ones that actually succeed when they use this very technique. 

Now first, you might be asking, what is disconfirmation? Great question. Let me tell you all about it. Simply stated, disconfirmation by definition is just a refusal to confirm the truth of a statement. So this is what it could look like for you. What it could look like is something as simple as this. 

As a clinician or just as a person, you can say, I have a hunch and I might be wrong about this, but here’s what I think. And then here’s the most powerful part. Please tell me where I’m wrong. And when you say those words, “please tell me where I’m wrong,” you actually mean it. You mean it in that you pause and you wait for them to tell you where they think you’re wrong. 

Now, this is what I love about this simple statement as a super powerful tool in your work life. One, you can really use it to disconfirm your clinical reasoning, your assessment summary, or any kind of hunch of what is happening in any given clinical work situation. 

So often as a clinician, we are being asked either implicitly or explicitly to lead, right? We’re in a position of power and we are ultimately getting paid to tell people what we think and why. I love that and I love that for you. And yet to lead effectively as a clinician or just as a member of a team, we are always making decisions based on the information we are given or that we get by asking questions and by observing. 

And with that information, our brain makes connections all the time. And oftentimes they are correct, but sometimes they’re not correct. So this simple statement, “tell me where I’m wrong,” does a few really, really important things that I want to highlight. 

First, it levels any real or perceived power dynamics and really opens the door and the opportunity for feedback, even feedback that may go against our own perceived narrative of what’s happening. I love that. 

Second, it does so by creating an environment of safety and vulnerability. You’re really offering the opportunity for the other person to share what they really think when you say, “tell me where I’m wrong.” It can really be a powerful way to truly co-create a solution with another person. 

And finally, it also just gives our own brain time and space to consider other possible perspectives and solutions. Now remember, that lower part of our brain likes to make very quick and efficient connections. And while they are very quick and often very efficient, they’re not always the most effective. So just giving your brain a little more time and a little more space that comes with this kind of statement allows that higher part of your brain, that part of your brain that has so much collected wisdom, it gives it a chance to weigh in as well. 

I myself, I am trying this statement all the time. I’ve tried this with my leadership support team, with the clinicians that I work with as we solve problems together, and as well as with clients. And I’m here to tell you, I have been delighted with what has happened. I have always been glad when I took the time to find out where someone else thinks that I’m actually wrong. 

Could it be that you’re wrong about a certain situation? Go ahead, give it a try and let me know how it goes. I would love to know where I have it wrong and I would love for you to tell me all about it. Please email me, heather@abilitiesrehabilitation.com and let’s talk about it more. Yes, I get it, I am busy. You’re right, I am busy. But I’m here to tell you I’m never too busy to talk to you. With that, have an amazing week and I will talk to you soon. 

If you enjoyed today’s show and don’t want to worry about missing an episode, you can follow the show wherever you listen to your podcasts. And if you haven’t already, I would really appreciate it if you could leave a rating and review to let me know what you think and to help others find Clinicians Creating Impact. 

It doesn’t have to be a five-star rating, although I sure hope you love the show. I’d really want your honest feedback so I can create an awesome podcast that provides tons of value. To learn more about me and the work that I do, visit my website at www.abilitiesrehabilitation.com/clinicianscorner to download your free Getting it All Done at Work process and to see what I’m up to. Thanks so much.

Thanks for joining me this week on the Clinicians Creating Impact podcast. Want to learn more about the work I’m doing with Abilities Rehabilitation? Head on over to abilitiesrehabilitation.com. See you next week.