Feedback

Everyday we need and use feedback to help us understand that what we are doing is working, when:

• Executing a build - it tells us if the code compiles
• All unit tests passing - tells us the code does what we expect
• Acceptance tests passing - tells us the code is doing what the business expects

Day in and day out we utilise feedback in our work to help us write our code and improve what we are doing.

But what about ouside of code? do you utilise feedback to help you improve?

Do you:

• Ask people to review your code?
• Talk to your manager regularly about any targets you've been set?
• Ask companies you interview with to provide feedback if unsuccessful in?
• Ask your peers if there is anything you can do to improve?

What TDD has shown us is the tighter the feedback loop the quicker we can adjust our behavior and improve what we are doing. 

Feedback may just be the most important mechanism there is to help you improve as receiving feedback, in whatever form, tells you about how you are doing. The feedback may not always be what you want to hear, it may even be painful, but if you want to improve listen to it as it is could be the quickest way for you to get better at not only what you do but possibly how you do it.

Conversely if you are a manager or perform interviews provide honest feedback as anything less doesn't actually help the person you manage/interviewed to improve.