When I first engage a team to introduce an engineering culture, someone usually invites me to help. After my initial talk and presentation, I often see people staring at me, not saying anything.
This is because I aim my topic introductions in a slightly provocative but not overly aggressive way. You have their attention, but there's no immediate reaction. After a while, or with a little nudge from the inviting person, the first person might give neutral feedback like,
🤨 "It could work, but I can't imagine how."
The following person might be even more doubtful, saying,
🙂↔️ "I've seen similar things fail elsewhere,"
🤔 "This is just theory,"
😒 "I cannot imagine how this should help us,"
or even direct counter-opinions like,
👎 "This is unnecessary effort/waste of time."
And you know what? This feedback is great! I celebrate it. Yes, people are often surprised about positively receiving negative or skeptical feedback, which helps bridge the gap. Positive voices usually come after the initial reactions. After a grounded, very positive explanation, at least one voice usually comes up with,
😀 "Actually, I like the idea,"
or
🙂 "We could try it in project XYZ and see...".
From then on, people have openly voiced their opinions and taken positions. We have reached a state where there are no hidden opinions anymore. From here on, we can work to convince everyone and learn why there is doubt; there is always a root cause and some truth in that as well.
Negative feedback is honest feedback. Negative feedback is what you want. It's honest and represents the current status quo—why you're there to help. From that point, you can start addressing the real problems. Aim for honesty. That's where you'll find the path to genuine conversations about change and shared goals.
The False Sense of Security
Imagine if everyone was immediately on board, overly enthusiastic about something they couldn't envision working on before. That's when alarm bells should ring. It’s simply too easy for something complex like this.
Everyone tries to make you go away as early as possible, telling you what you want to hear. This often happens, especially when we are very polite as managers. Have your opinion and mission, but don’t be stubbornly biased as a leader.
The Main Reason for Resistance
Most often, it’s the unwillingness to change—an essential human reaction everyone has. Sometimes it’s stronger, sometimes weaker. Resistance usually manifests as this convincing voice telling you the other one is wrong, and you are right.
If we, as developers or managers, learn to understand this inner force, when to provoke it, and when to overcome it, we can align people by infusing them with the idea of overcoming resistance by themselves.
👉 So, sometimes these transformations get stuck 𝗶𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗳𝗲𝗮𝗿 𝗼𝗳 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗲. We see that 𝗮𝘀 𝘀𝗼𝗼𝗻 𝗮𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗲 𝗮𝗳𝗳𝗲𝗰𝘁𝘀 𝗵𝘂𝗺𝗮𝗻𝘀 𝗱𝗶𝗿𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗹𝘆, such as in daily practice, it's crucial to understand this to work on mitigating fear and substituting it with motivation step-by-step.
Breaking The Ice
Provoking negative feedback provides valuable insights into team perspectives, enabling continuous improvement. Start by being slightly provocative to break the ice, then shift to a constructive approach. Normalize feedback and different opinions while fostering collaboration.
Change happens through 𝗶𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘀𝗺𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗽𝘀. Help team members see how 𝗖𝗗 and 𝗧𝗗𝗗 connect to their tasks and shared goals. Address concerns constructively to find solutions together.
Using negative feedback as a tool reveals the truth and builds alignment. This strategy has worked for me, and I hope it helps you, too.
Introducing new practices does take time, and it's all about aligning the team and convincing everyone to invoke intrinsic motivation.
Have a great week, everyone. Goodbye and take care.
Ever Tried Aiming for Negative Opinions?