# The Feedback Digest — Facilitator Guide

> Folder: `the-feedback-digest` · Category: self-assessment · 1–2 people · 20 min · offline + online · print props · tool pack
> License: CC BY 4.0

You collect the feedback you've actually received — from reviews, Slack, 1:1s, emails — and sort it into three piles: things you already knew, things that surprised you, and things you're going to dismiss. The surprised pile is the point: it's the part of how you land that you can't see from the inside. Then you write one sentence about yourself the whole set supports, and one action that follows from the surprise.

**How this differs from `the-leader-checkup`:** The Leader Checkup *collects* new feedback from a team, live, with the leader listening without defending. This folder assumes the feedback already exists — scattered across reviews, messages and overheard remarks — and treats it as evidence to be sorted, not re-asked for. Run the checkup when nobody has told you yet; run this digest when too many people have, and none of it has been read.

## Objectives

By the end of the activity, participants will have:

1. Gathered the real feedback they've received recently — verbatim where possible, on one card per item.
2. Sorted every item into **Already knew / Surprised me / I'll dismiss**, with a stated reason for each dismissal.
3. Read the surprised pile as a blindspot, written one honest sentence the whole set supports, and committed one action that follows from the surprise.

## When to use this activity

- A review cycle just ended and the feedback is filed away, unread — the surprising part still unanswered.
- The same piece of criticism keeps arriving from different people, and each arrival gets individually explained away.
- Before asking for *more* feedback — digest what already arrived first; otherwise the new round is just noise layered on unread signal.

## Setup

**Clock:** twenty minutes for a solo digest. In pairs, each person sorts their own piles; the read-back at the end adds five more.

**Space:** a table big enough for three visible piles. Piles hidden under a stack are piles unsorted.

**Materials per person:**

| Item | Source |
|---|---|
| 3 × sorting cards — Already knew · Surprised me · I'll dismiss | `the-feedback-digest-prop-cards.pdf` |
| 1 × "the sentence the evidence supports" card | `the-feedback-digest-prop-cards.pdf` |
| 1 × "one action from the surprised pile" card | `the-feedback-digest-prop-cards.pdf` |
| 8–20 × blank cards or sticky notes — one per feedback item | `the-feedback-digest-prop-cards.pdf` — the blanks |
| 1 × pen | verbatim beats paraphrase; write what was actually said |

**Grouping:** 1 person, or a pair each digesting their own feedback.

**Roles:** solo, you sort your own piles; in pairs, the partner's only move is to read the surprised pile back, verbatim — no commentary, no reassurance.

## How to run it

| Time | Phase | Facilitator does | Participants do |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0–6 | Gather | "One card per item, verbatim where you can. Reviews, messages, things said in passing." | Write each piece of received feedback on its own card |
| 6–12 | Sort | "Three piles only. 'Already knew' is the comfortable pile, not the useful one. Dismissals need a spoken reason." | Place every card into Already knew / Surprised me / I'll dismiss |
| 12–16 | Read the surprise | Point at the surprised pile only. "What keeps repeating there?" | Find the repetition — that pattern is the blindspot |
| 16–20 | Sentence + action | Demand the unflattering sentence, then the action that traces to the surprise — not to the comfortable pile. | Write one sentence the whole set supports, and one concrete dated action |

Then run the debrief — see `the-feedback-digest-debrief.md`.

## The card

The three sorting cards define the only legal piles — Already knew, Surprised me, I'll dismiss — which is what turns a gloomy re-read of old feedback into an experiment: every card must land in a named pile, and the piles have different jobs. The sentence card enforces the honest version ("the evidence supports", not "the version I'd like read aloud"), and the action card ties the commitment to the surprised pile specifically, because an action sourced from the comfortable pile is how people avoid changing.

## Failure modes

1. **Only safe feedback was gathered.** Every item sits in "already knew" and the surprised pile is empty. Rescue: pull one card out of the dismiss pile and ask what it would mean if it were true.
2. **The whole review lands as one card.** "They think I'm not leadership material" is a mood, not evidence. Rescue: split every item into one behavior; surprises are usually about a specific thing, not "you".
3. **The dismiss pile is huge and reasonless.** That is not judgment, it is a wall. Rescue: force a one-sentence reason per dismissal; where none can be produced, move the card to "Surprised me".
4. **The action comes from the comfortable pile.** A growth action that confirms what you already believed is a way of not changing. Rescue: the action must name which surprised card it follows from.

## Variations

- **After a review cycle:** digest everything from one round while it's fresh; the surprised pile is your development plan.
- **With a trusted colleague:** they read your surprised pile back to you — it's easier to hear your own blindspot in someone else's voice.
- **Recurring:** re-run each quarter; a surprise that keeps coming back isn't a misunderstanding, it's a pattern.
- **Online:** the three piles are three columns in a shared doc, items pasted verbatim from chat and mail; the read-back happens on a call.

## Facilitation notes

- Surprise is the signal. What you didn't already know is the entire point; the pile that confirms what you believed is just noise.
- Dismiss only with a reason. "I'll dismiss" is allowed — but you have to say why, out loud, in one sentence. A reasonless dismissal is the blindspot hiding.
- Verbatim matters. Paraphrase softens exactly the sentences worth reading.

## Put it on the wall

Print `the-feedback-digest-activity-poster.pdf` (A3) to keep the two rules — surprise is the signal, dismissals need reasons — in view while the piles get sorted.

## Props in this folder

- `the-feedback-digest-prop-cards.pdf` — poker-spec print sheet (63.5 × 88.9 mm, bleed and cut guides): three sorting cards, the evidence-sentence card, the action-from-surprise card, blanks, branded backs
- `the-feedback-digest-guide.md` — this run sheet
- `the-feedback-digest-debrief.md` — the debrief questions and the failure modes of the debrief
- `the-feedback-digest-run-sheet.pdf` — the print edition: this run sheet + the debrief, bound as one A4 document with bookmarks
- `the-feedback-digest-activity-poster.pdf` — the whole tool on one A3 wall sheet: the run, the two rules, the watch-outs
- `the-feedback-digest-start-here.md` — one page, thirty seconds, then print and go
- `SKILL.md` — machine-readable manifest for AI agents
- `*-Letter.pdf` — US Letter editions of the print documents

## Agent version

Every file in this folder has a stable public URL — an AI agent can fetch the cards, the debrief and this run sheet with three curl commands (see `SKILL.md`). The paper version needs nothing but a table, some blank cards and the pile of feedback you already have.