The Feedback Culture Myth: Why Most Organizations Get It Wrong

• 4 min read
Organizational Culture Leadership Performance Management

“We need to build a feedback culture” has become the battle cry of modern leadership. Walk into any organization and you’ll hear executives talking about psychological safety, radical candor, and the importance of continuous feedback.

Then you’ll talk to employees who describe walking on eggshells, avoiding difficult conversations, and feeling like feedback is something that happens to them rather than with them.

What’s going wrong?

The Performance Review Fallacy

Most organizations think building a feedback culture means doing performance reviews more often. So they implement continuous performance management systems, monthly check-ins, and 360-degree feedback processes.

But more feedback isn’t better feedback. In fact, increasing the frequency of feedback without changing the quality often makes things worse.

I worked with a tech company that had instituted weekly one-on-ones specifically focused on feedback. Sounds progressive, right? Six months later, their employee engagement scores had dropped. Why? Because managers weren’t equipped to give useful feedback, so weekly sessions became weekly criticism sessions.

Employees started dreading Mondays.

What Feedback Culture Actually Means

Real feedback culture isn’t about more conversations—it’s about better conversations. Here’s what I see in organizations that actually get it right:

Feedback is Bi-Directional

In healthy feedback cultures, managers ask for feedback as often as they give it. They model vulnerability by asking questions like:

  • “What’s one thing I could do differently to support you better?”
  • “How did you experience that meeting I led?”
  • “What am I missing about this situation?”

When employees see their managers actively seeking input, it normalizes feedback as a tool for improvement rather than judgment.

Context Matters More Than Cadence

The best feedback happens in real-time, tied to specific situations. Instead of saving observations for the next scheduled check-in, effective managers address things as they happen—both positive and developmental.

This requires managers to be present and observant, not just schedulers of feedback meetings.

Development Focus Over Evaluation Focus

Here’s a crucial distinction: feedback for development feels different than feedback for evaluation. Development-focused feedback is forward-looking and collaborative. Evaluation-focused feedback is backward-looking and comparative.

The same observation—“Your presentation lacked structure”—can be developmental (“Let’s talk about how to organize your next presentation”) or evaluative (“This is why you got a 3 instead of a 4”).

Organizations that mix these purposes wonder why employees become defensive.

The Manager Problem

Most feedback culture initiatives fail because they expect managers to suddenly become skilled coaches without proper training or support.

Giving good feedback is a complex skill that involves:

  • Observing behavior objectively
  • Timing conversations appropriately
  • Balancing support with challenge
  • Helping people see their own patterns
  • Following up on development commitments

Yet we promote people into management roles based on technical skills, then expect them to master interpersonal skills through trial and error.

What Actually Works

The organizations I’ve seen successfully build feedback cultures do these things differently:

Invest in Manager Development

They provide real training on feedback conversations, not just compliance workshops. Managers practice difficult scenarios, learn to ask better questions, and understand the difference between coaching and evaluating.

Start with Trust, Not Technique

Before focusing on feedback skills, they work on relationship quality. Managers who have regular, informal conversations with their team members find that formal feedback conversations go much more smoothly.

Make It Safe to Receive Feedback Badly

They acknowledge that receiving feedback is a skill too, and that people will sometimes react defensively. Instead of punishing these reactions, they help people learn to receive input more effectively over time.

Focus on Team Performance, Not Just Individual Performance

The most effective feedback cultures tie individual development to team and organizational goals. Feedback becomes about collective success, not personal judgment.

A Different Approach

One client shifted their entire feedback philosophy from “How can we give people more feedback?” to “How can we help people get better at their jobs?”

This subtle change led to completely different conversations. Instead of focusing on what people did wrong, managers started asking:

  • “What support do you need to be successful?”
  • “What obstacles are getting in your way?”
  • “How can we set you up for your next challenge?”

Employee engagement scores improved, but more importantly, actual performance improved. People weren’t just getting more feedback—they were getting more helpful.

The Real Goal

Building a feedback culture isn’t about creating an environment where everyone constantly shares their opinions about everyone else’s performance. It’s about creating an environment where people feel safe to learn, grow, and do their best work.

That requires psychological safety, yes. But it also requires skill, intention, and a fundamental belief that people want to improve when given the right support.

Most organizations have plenty of feedback floating around. What they need is more helpful feedback, delivered by people who genuinely care about others’ success.

Start there, and the culture will follow.