# Feedforward vs Feedback Feedback looks back. It explains what happened, what went wrong, what the pattern was. Feedforward looks forward. It asks: what could you try? What would a better version look like? What's one thing that would make a difference next time? Both are useful. The problem is treating them as the same move — which is why feedback conversations so often become defensive, stuck, or performative. ## Why feedback gets stuck When you give feedback about the past, the person receiving it often activates a self-protection response. The data you're sharing is now attached to their identity, their judgment, their competence. Even when the feedback is clearly offered in good faith, the natural response is to explain, defend, or minimise. Feedforward sidesteps most of this. It doesn't require the person to agree with an assessment of what they did. It invites them into possibility instead. ## Use this lens when - A feedback conversation keeps looping back to "yes, but..." - Someone is stuck on what went wrong rather than what they can change - You want to increase energy and agency rather than just accuracy - You're running a retro and the action list keeps being empty - You're coaching someone who responds to challenge by deflecting ## The combined move Feedback and feedforward work best as a sequence, not a choice: 1. Name what you observed (signals, not story) 2. Check their interpretation: "What did you notice?" 3. Pivot forward: "What would you try next time?" 4. Leave the action with them Step 3 is where feedforward lives. You're not abandoning accountability — you're relocating energy where it can actually go somewhere. ## The question that unlocks it > "What's one thing you could try that would shift this?" Simple. Forward-facing. Gives the person agency. Creates a commitment without requiring them to concede the past. ## Anti-theatre tripwires - Feedforward used to avoid giving honest feedback: the past sometimes needs naming - "Sandwich" models that bury critique in false positives — this is not feedforward - Future focus that never touches observable reality — vague encouragement is not coaching ## Satellite notes - [[Feedforward vs Feedback - Field Signals]] — observable patterns revealing when feedback is stuck or feedforward would shift energy - [[Feedforward vs Feedback - Why It Happens]] — why feedback triggers defense and how feedforward sidesteps it - [[Feedforward vs Feedback - Design Moves]] — interventions to pivot from evaluation to agency ## See Also - [[Why Feedback Gets Stuck]] — why standard feedback fails; the systemic causes feedforward is designed to work around - [[Short, Early Conversations]] — feedforward is most valuable early; this lens handles timing as a design variable - [[Designing with Feedback Signals]] — the design complement; building feedback into the system rather than relying on individuals to initiate it - [[Feedback Conversations Map]] — the map that operationalises both feedback and feedforward across the full range of conversation types - [[Learning Without Blame]] — feedforward avoids blame by design; the connection is structural, not just stylistic - [[Updating Beliefs]] — feedforward is supposed to update future behaviour; this lens handles the belief-update mechanism it depends on - [[07_Tools/Adult-Adult Feedback Conversation (20 min)]] — the practice tool; feedforward principles applied in a structured conversation