How to Filter Feedback and Know What to Action

Getting feedback is one thing, but knowing what to do with it is a whole different ballgame!

How do you know what to action and what to let go of?

How do you know if it's just someone's personal opinion or a genuine area for growth?

It's a skill you get better at over time, but there are a couple of solid ways to start sifting for the gold.

Method #1 - The Power of Themes and Trends (The Multi-Source Approach)

If you're in the early years of your career, it can be hard to judge feedback when you're still learning the rules of the game.

That's why I always recommend seeking critique from multiple different people.

When you do this, you’re not looking for a single, specific piece of advice, but for themes and trends. If you talk to five different people and four of them consistently say that "timelines are an issue for me," then that’s a theme, and it has validity. It’s something you should probably work on.

However, if only one person - even an influential one - mentions a specific, isolated issue (like maybe your physical presentation), it's less likely to be valuable.

Every piece of feedback is colored by the person giving it, so collating information from different sources helps you get a clearer, less biased picture. 📊

Method #2 - The Credibility Gap

I’m a firm believer in the less-power-dynamic version of the old cliché:

Don’t take feedback from someone you wouldn’t take advice from.

This is all about a credibility gap.

If the head of project management gives you feedback on your project management skills, you can take that at face value. They are credible, they have influence in that area, and their advice is probably gold.

But if the head of finance gives you very specific feedback on your project management skills, you should question it more. It doesn’t mean it's not valuable, but it's important to look at it with a higher level of scrutiny.

Why are they saying this? Where is it coming from? You have to be more discerning, because of that credibility gap, but you don't just write it off. 🕵️‍♀️

Recognising Bias and Bad Days

Over time, with repetition, you'll start to recognise patterns in the way people give you feedback.

You'll learn to recognise when someone is colouring it too strongly with their own bias, or when they're giving it from a position of projection.

Honestly, they could just be having a bad day, and you happened to approach them at the wrong time.

My answer to most of these things is the more you do it, the more you will start to see, feel, and understand how people are giving this.

You will learn to understand and feel which of these elements are worth acting on and which are not. For me, it's definitely a learned skill and something you get only from experience.

Check In With Your Values

This is a crucial step for self-reflection.

Sometimes feedback makes you feel uncomfortable not because it’s wrong, but because it goes against everything you stand for.

In this case, even if it's from a credible source like your manager, it’s an indication that you need to ask yourself a bigger question: “If I implement this feedback, am I becoming someone who I don't want to be?”

This feeds into a larger decision around whether you’re in the right place, doing the right work, or even in the right career. It’s always a good idea to check in with yourself and your values, to make sure you're not sacrificing your core principles just to please others 🧭