Today’s entry in The Daily Drucker is about the importance of feedback in continuous learning. Here’s a short excerpt:
"Whenever a Jesuit priest or a Calvinist pastor does anything of significance (for instance, making a key decision), he is expected to write down the results he anticipates. Nine months later, he then feeds back from the actual results to to these anticipations. This very soon shows him what he did well and what his strengths are."
I think today’ Drucker lesson is particularly helpful for small business owners for a couple of reasons.
Many small business owners don’t have someone in their company that they feel they can confide in and go to for feedback. There is a belief that "the boss" is supposed to have all the answers. Rationally, we know this is not true, but it does make it difficult for many to search for feedback inside their own company. Small business owners have so much to do carrying out their day-to-day responsibilities that seeking someone outside the company to provide feedback becomes a low priority item.
Writing down your goals, anticipated results, and other thoughts about your business, is a great way for small business owners to "think out load" about their business and the many issues they must address. Incorporating a feedback loop by regularly performing periodic reviews further strengthens this technique.
I try to practice this myself, although I’m not as consistent yet as I hope to be. I do find that when I practice this habit of writing out my plans and thinking things through on paper that I am always more prepared to handle things when they don’t go exactly as planned.
The other thing I really like about Drucker’s lesson is the focus on discovering and working on your strengths. The point of these writings and reviews isn’t to point out your failures and beat yourself up over them. Rather, identify your strengths, work on improving them and capitalizing on them everyday.
