​​Let’s talk about feedback culture in politics!

The first workshop I delivered for a political party was on “organisational development.” Specifically, it focused on the importance of creating a culture of feedback in newly formed political organisations. During the workshop, I noticed that many of the attendees were sceptical about the notion of “feedback culture.” While they were still curious and interested in the topic, it was clear that they were not keen to prioritise and implement it.

Facing resistance

A week after the workshop, I asked for feedback from the attendees. Two members of the board of the party praised the workshop and mentioned that they wanted to promote the concept of regular feedback within the organisation to improve processes and optimise performance. However, the party’s Executive Director (a fully operational position) was hesitant to express any positive or negative thoughts on the workshop. The board later asked me to do a follow-up workshop, and the director finally opened up to me.

“Luis, please do not take it as a personal offence, but do you think we need this? This feedback culture thing is a bullshit corporate buzzword! In reality, this workshop is a passive-aggressive strategy from the board to tell me indirectly that I am not doing a good job and, therefore, need to be open to feedback.”