Why Asking for Advice Is More Effective Than Asking for Feedback

Jaewon  Yoon; Hayley  Blunden; Ariella  Kristal; A.V.  Whillans

Editorial | Harvard Business Review (website) | September 20, 2019

Why Asking for Advice Is More Effective Than Asking for Feedback

by Jaewon Yoon, Hayley Blunden, Ariella Kristal and A.V. Whillans

Abstract

Conventional wisdom says you should ask your colleagues for feedback. However, research suggests that feedback often has no (or even a negative) impact on our performance. This is because the feedback we receive is often too vague—it fails to highlight what we can improve on or how to improve. New research suggests a better approach. Across four experiments—including a field experiment conducted in an executive education classroom—researchers found that people received more effective input when they asked for advice rather than feedback.

Keywords: feedback; advice; advice seeking; feedback culture; advice taking; Interpersonal Communication;

Format: Electronic

Citation:

Yoon, Jaewon, Hayley Blunden, Ariella Kristal, and A.V. Whillans. "Why Asking for Advice Is More Effective Than Asking for Feedback." Harvard Business Review (website) (September 20, 2019).

Consumers feel increasingly pressed for time and money. Gifts have the potential to reduce scarcity in recipients’ lives, yet little is known about how recipients perceive gifts given with the intention of saving them time or money. Across 4 studies (N=1,403), we demonstrate that the recipients of gifts intending to save money experience more negative self-conscious emotions and infer lower status position than recipients of gifts intending to save time. Recipients who report experiencing greater financial scarcity in their daily lives (who may benefit most from gifts intending to save them money), experience negative emotions to a greater extent and perceive an even lower status position than recipients who experience relatively little money scarcity. These findings are the first to directly evaluate the implications of receiving gifts seeking to address time and money scarcity and suggest that recipients may benefit more from gifts given with the intention to save time.

Car commuters report higher levels of stress and lower job satisfaction compared to train commuters—in large part because car commuting can involve driving in traffic and navigating tense road situations. Some employers are trying to get involved and reduce car commuting. But how can organizations encourage their employees to commute differently? Researchers tried to answer this question by designing a series of experiments to “nudge” employees to change how they commute. Overall, they found these light-touch interventions failed to shift people’s commuting behavior.

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Why Asking for Advice Is More Effective Than Asking for Feedback

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