Feedback and Human Capacity

No More Feedback — Chapter 6

This chapter is an excerpt from No More Feedback: Cultivate Consciousness at Work, the first in a series of books on toxic practices in the workplace. Read the introduction and previous chapter here on Medium, and find links to purchase the full book here.

As cybernetic systems in computer applications became better understood (Information Systems degrees, IT, were originally called Cybernetic Systems degrees in most of higher education), so the process of providing feedback to peers, subordinates, and even superiors became popularized in the 360 degree view or performance appraisal. The creators of artificial intelligence systems had discovered the critical importance of feedback loops for correcting and adjusting the performance of mechanical systems. It occurred to them that a similar mechanism — constituted of objective observation, appraisal, and communication — could provide corrections and adjustments to human behavior in business and other settings.

On the face of it, the application of ideas about mechanical systems directly to human behavior seems questionable. Could people not use their common sense to discern that machines and human brains are differently constructed, with different functions and capabilities? It turns out that, in fact, the very way living brains function worked…