Tamsen Webster presents PLUS EBI, a feedback method that pairs specific strengths with actionable improvements. She walks through a two-column review approach using a presentation example, showing how to make feedback both positive and concrete enough to actually use.
This week I want to talk about getting better at getting better. How can we better give and receive feedback so that we can all get better? I'm Tamsen Webster of TamsenWebster.com. That's what we're talking about this week on Find the Red Thread. And do me a favor, please like and subscribe. When we want to get better at getting better, when we want to get better at giving or receiving feedback, either to ourselves or to other people, we need to understand something that I think most of us intuitively know to be true: that when we focus on the negative, we can't move forward. And yet, most often, because it makes sense— if you're trying to get better, you're focusing on the thing that needs to get better. But that's not how our brains work. Our brains can't just stop a thing. It has to be replaced with a thing. So just telling somebody that something is wrong, telling yourself that something is wrong, doesn't give you what to do with it. Not to mention that when you're focused only on what goes wrong, what you give attention to grows stronger, which means the wrong stuff grows stronger, at least in your head. And you can get to a point where you or the person you're talking to feels like they can never get better. So how do we make sure that the right things grow stronger with that attention? Well, the answer's pretty simple. We need to focus on not only the positives, but what to do. We need to pair the positives with positive actions we can take to improve whatever it is we need to improve with our message, our presentation, content, anything. Now, a few years ago, I learned a system for doing this that's been enormously helpful for keeping me out of the trap of focusing too much on the negative, and it's a system called PLUS EBI. The PLUS stands for positive and the EBI stands for even better if. So the PLUS, the positives, are what's already strong, already good about whatever it is that you or someone else is working on, and And the EBI is even better if, even better if you did X or Y or Z. It's the actions. And here's simply how it works. If you're reviewing something, whether for yourself or for somebody else, you've got two columns on a piece of paper. You've got the positives, the pluses, the strengths, and you've got the EBIs, the things that you can specifically tell them, an action for how to make it better. Here's the kicker for making sure it's really powerful: pair the EBI with a positive. Make sure that every time you give somebody, including yourself, something to improve and how, it's linked to a positive reason why that thing is worth improving in the first place. So let's say, for instance, that you're reviewing your own presentation and you figure out by delivering it in a rehearsal, either to other people or to yourself, that a certain example just isn't working. Now you could say to yourself, well, that's a crappy example, we should just get rid of it. But with Plus EBI, the first thing you would say is that point that I'm trying to illustrate is really important. It's a really good point. It's a really good lesson. But even better if I found a piece of information, a better story to back it up, maybe a simpler story, one that doesn't take as much time. You see, instead of instead of saying, "Well, that was crap and there's nothing you can do about it," now you've got something that says, "All right, I need to find a simpler story because this point is strong." By pairing those things, you're always pairing the positive with a positive action. And that is how to get better at getting better. I'm Tamsen Webster of TamsenWebster.com. That was this week's episode of Find the Red Thread. If you need another set of eyes on how you can get better, you might be interested in what I call the Draft Review product. You can see more about that on TamsenWebster.com/Consulting. That's where I take a look at what you're already doing, a message you've already developed or a presentation you're already giving, and give you that plus EBI feedback across the concept, the idea, the delivery, and all your support and illustrations. I hope you tune in next week to find the red thread, and as always, if you like this episode, like it, comment, And subscribe.
