So what’s the real harm in delaying a feedback cycle?

When you misgauge your ‘feedback-fidelity fit’?

It depends on the context.

​

I sit on an independent advisory committee for Seattle University.

We’re a set of neighbors and local business owners recruited by the City to oversee development on and around the campus.

Mostly, we’re asked to sign-off on any major construction project from a neighborhood perspective, and make sure it’s in accordance with a master agreement.

Our remit is quite technical, and our meetings have typically been quite uneventful over the 6 years I’ve been involved.

​

Fast-forward to 2025 — the university received a massive art collection as a donation.

Like $300M worth of art - the largest donation of its kind ever to any US university.

It’s an exciting turn of events for the relatively small university, and to help with fundraising for a new museum to hold the collection, they put out some very detailed concept renderings along with an accelerated construction schedule.

Admittedly, it looks beautiful - but the response has been overwhelmingly negative.

Why?

Because the rendering shows the museum on the site of a beloved theatre.

And even though it was just a concept, it looked so real that it gave impression that the project has sped ahead without input…

…surprising the public and our committee with the pace

…causing alarm and controversy when there should be excitement and community-building.

​

Our committee meeting last week, typically absent of any public attendance, was so jam-packed I thought I had shown up at the wrong meeting.

Theater majors, professors, and concerned neighbors came to voice their regret and, for some, outrage that a major project like this had gotten so far along without community input.

We’re still working with the university to revisit the plans and find a path forward, but this is a case of a massive misfire in terms of feedback-fidelity fit.

They showed something too polished, too late in the game, and got huge blowback.

​

Now, for a consultant, perhaps feedback timing isn’t as high stakes.

You typically won’t spark outrage that your proposal wasn’t great.

Or have to put out fires because your framework didn’t land.

​

Instead, you’ll get something just as bad:

Crickets.

Silence.

A gentle compliment followed by a quick mental ‘delete’.

​

A vulnerable round of review a couple stages earlier could prompt some great improvements or insightful dialogue.

But when you overshoot your feedback window…

When you put forth something buttoned up and pretty…

You’re telling the other person you’re already moving ahead…

You’re just looking for a nod.

(And maybe an ego boost.)

​

💡

-Wes

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