In an increasingly dynamic and demanding working world, companies — including ours — are constantly looking for new approaches to support employees, improve teamwork, and accelerate growth. As part of this effort, the practice of feedback is currently being questioned and supplemented by a new perspective: feedforward. This approach shifts the focus from past events and actions to future potential and performance, with the aim of enabling more effective communication and personal development.
The difference is already in the name: Unlike feedback, which focuses on past events and actions, feedforward puts future potential and performance at the center. Instead of analyzing mistakes or pointing out shortcomings, the goal is to identify constructive ideas, recommendations, and suggestions for improving individual skills and performance.
Especially in agile and growth-oriented companies, agencies, and scale-ups, feedforward can make a crucial difference — not just for individuals. Its implicitly optimistic orientation creates an environment that encourages self-actualization. And the organization ultimately benefits from that, too. Not least because of feedforward’s proactive nature, which encourages individuals and teams to adopt new perspectives and take creative risks.
For example, imagine an advertising agency that specializes in print but decides to develop an entire campaign using VR and AI. Or a team lead who decides that the group will meditate together every Monday to spark new ideas. Both approaches could backfire — the campaign might flop, or the silent brainstorming sessions might turn into a waste of time. But they could also work: These small risks can lead to innovation, success, and stronger team cohesion, which in turn can have a positive impact on individuals, team dynamics, and ultimately the organization as a whole.
“Learning is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire. Let us inspire our students to ignite their inner fire and strive for their future successes.”
William Butler Yeats on education, circa 1923
“Mentoring is the art of creating a space where everyone can reach their full potential by focusing on the possibilities of the future rather than the mistakes of the past.”
Oprah Winfrey on mentoring, circa 2000
“The most successful organizations are those that shift their focus from evaluating the past to shaping the future, encouraging their employees to work together to reach the next level.”
Marshall Goldsmith on organizational development, circa 2010
Sounds great, right? But it’s not quite that easy: Successfully implementing feedforward requires an open and trusting communication culture. Without respect, openness, appreciation, and empathy, it simply won’t work. And that’s still lacking in many companies.
By the way: Feedforward isn’t meant to completely replace feedback, but rather to complement and expand it. Feedback can still be extremely valuable for reflecting on past experiences and learning from them. Feedforward, however, opens up a new framework that encourages people to proactively drive their own growth — and that of the organization.
At getpress, we decide depending on the context whether to look forward or backward — for example, in our quarterly conversations with all employees. Our managers are also trained to choose the right form of “feed” for the situation.
What experiences have you had with feedforward? Tell us in the comments on LinkedIn!
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