Shift Positive 360^® – A New Approach to Feedback

Shift Positive 360^® is a narrative 360 grounded in positive psychology and social support.

In a world where traditional feedback processes often fall short, a revolution in the way we approach learning, development, and growth is long overdue. The current methods, marked by criticism, confidentiality, and a focus on fixing what is broken, have created a culture of apprehension and resistance.

At Change Positive, we've studied the research, recognized the shortcomings, and have re-designed, tested, and refined an entirely new approach to feedback.

The Shift Positive 360^® is an elegantly designed narrative 360 supported by a technology platform that helps with administrative support (scheduling & tracking), consistent key messaging to participants, voice-to-text transcription, report generation, development planning, and progress measurement.

Shift Positive 360^® is the next step in effective feedback and development that coaches and Learning and Development Professionals have been searching for.

It focuses on what's right, what is working, and what to do more of (not what to do less of). Overall, this process is not just about the individual client — it is about creating an environment conducive to the client's progress and engagement, creating fertile soil for successful growth. It creates deeper, lasting change, faster, and with more dialogue, disclosure, and depth of thought by all participants — all allies in each other's success.

Because of this, the tool is not intended to be confidential or anonymous. Rather, understanding the context of the feedback gives us the best opportunity to make lasting change.

A New Approach to Feedback

A typical process involves interviews with the client, their manager, and a group of others (internal and external) as defined by the client. The goal of the Shift Positive 360^® is to craft a plan for what the client can do in the future to be more effective, while also creating a people system of support to help create sustainable change.

The interview guide focuses the client on:

Understanding the "People System"
Understand the people in your system by understanding their goals, their vision for success, and how you can support these.

Leveraging Strengths
Understand that our strengths are what strengthen us. Using strengths increases performance, engagement, and wellbeing.

Solution Focused
Rather than focusing on weaknesses, we ask: What can you do to be even more effective? It is a focus on what to do, rather than what to avoid.

For example: Instead of saying someone is a "poor communicator," we describe better communication behaviors — "be timely with responses, transparent, and provide context."

Desired Future
We understand how you and your colleague are at your best together by looking at a time when you both were successful in the past. Instead of focusing on what is not going well, we create a vision of how you and your colleague can be even more effective together in the future.

Support with Allies
Your colleagues become part of the journey by identifying one specific thing they will do to help support you in your development.

Socially Connected
In social network analysis, one question is highly predictive of future leadership — "Who do you go to for information?" Information holders are very valuable. However, a question that is 4x as predictive of future leadership is: "How does this person impact your energy?" We find out what you do to raise and drain the energy of others.

Motivation
Insight is necessary but not sufficient for change. Identifying your motivation (which often is more than professional) helps sustain change, which otherwise can fade.