Ways to distinguish yourself #151 – Enroll people to provide progressive feedback

Let’s say you are working on a new project. You want to get some feedback from some of your smartest friends. You pick a number. Let’s say that number is ten and you call all of them at the start of the project and ask for their feedback. Chances are that more than one of them will give you the same feedback. The feedback can be something on the lines of:

a. what might work and what might not work

b. what to be careful about

c. their past experiences on a similar project

d. on executing the project well

or something else. The point is that if you talk to all of your smart friends at the start (or at any stage) of the project, you will hear the same thing from multiple people.

Here is a simple (alternate) approach to getting feedback:

1. Divide your smart friends into three or four groups

2. At the initial tage of the project, go to one group (new one every time) and get feedback

3. Incorporate the feedback, make necessary changes and update the group that provided feedback

4. At every crucial stage of the project, work with a new group and get their feedback and repeat the update cycle

5. Update other groups on the progress of the project but your focus should be to get critical feedback from a new group. If the earlier groups provide critical feedback that is valuable, it is a bonus.

This method has worked great for me and several of my entrepreneur friends. You need a new set of eyes (smart ones) to look at a project at every crucial stage. Progressive feedback requires discipline and planning but works like magic.