When Feedback is Absent

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Yesterday, I watched an episode of BravoTV’s Below Deck Mediterranean. In that episode, the captain, Sandy Yawn, was angry that her chef didn’t deliver an omelet in 10 minutes.

I thought it was a classic example: ManageBetter could have helped Sandy. She struggled to articulate any constructive feedback whatsoever. All she could do was vent how her chef didn’t deliver the omelet within her expectations.

Had she used our ReviewBuilder, it would have been an effective checklist to understand that she, not her chef, was the problem.

Let me take you through it. Let’s put yourselves in Sandy’s shoes. Did she have a problem with the chef’s:

  • Collaboration? ❌

  • Communication skills? ❌

  • Execution? ❌

  • Expertise? ❌

  • Initiative? ❌

  • Quality of work? ❌

  • Reliability? ❌

  • And so forth…

I could imagine that if Sandy were to use ReviewBuilder, she’d realize that her chef wasn’t the problem. He was busting his butt to get things done.

It would have taken some time, but she might have realized that she was the problem:

  • She had unrealistic expectations on how quickly an omelet should be delivered, especially when Sandy’s order was placed at the same time as 9 other people

  • She should have minimized the load by placing her omelet order earlier in the day

I’m a huge fan of checklists. It’s a great way to build self-awareness. This is a case where I feel Sandy could have generated some self-awareness by using ManageBetter.

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