Coaching practices for Feedforward Coaching

Describe almost anything you are working through and IX Coach finds the practices whose real-world fit is closest. For Feedforward Coaching, these are the strongest matches in the current practice library.

Does this sound like the set of challenges you might be facing?

  • I sit down to coach someone through what happened and they’re already braced, because they know I’ve made up my mind about how they did
  • We’re about to kick off something new and everyone has private hunches about what it’ll take to pull off
  • The second someone suggests something, I’m already arguing back in my head
  • When I try to help someone get better I either go vague and cheerlead
  • Whenever I ask how I’m doing, the answer comes back as a verdict on what I already screwed up, and I spend the whole conversation defending myself instead of actually learning anything I could use next time.

Practices that may help

  1. Feedforward: Future-Focused Feedback That Actually Changes Behavior
    Feedforward, developed by executive coach Marshall Goldsmith, replaces backward-looking critique with forward-looking suggestions — asking "what ideas do you have for the future?" rather than "what did I do wrong?" The core claim is that people are more receptive to ideas about what they could do than to judgments about what they did. Evidence is primarily clinical and practitioner-based rather than from controlled trials.
  2. Replace performance review conversations with feedforward conversations
    In coaching conversations, ask "what could you do differently?" instead of "what went wrong?"
    Feedforward: Future-Focused Feedback That Actually Changes Behavior
  3. Use feedforward to align team members on goals before projects begin
    At the start of a project, invite feedforward on how to succeed — before any performance to critique.
    Feedforward: Future-Focused Feedback That Actually Changes Behavior
  4. Receive every suggestion with only "thank you"
    Accept all feedforward without debate, justification, or even agreement — just acknowledge and note.
    Feedforward: Future-Focused Feedback That Actually Changes Behavior
  5. Give feedforward as specific, actionable ideas — not generic encouragement
    When giving feedforward, offer two concrete behavioral ideas, not praise or abstract advice.
    Feedforward: Future-Focused Feedback That Actually Changes Behavior
  6. Ask for ideas about the future, not assessments of the past
    Replace "how did I do?" with "what ideas do you have for how I could do better?"
    Feedforward: Future-Focused Feedback That Actually Changes Behavior
  7. Rewrite internal-focus coaching cues as external-focus equivalents
    Audit your coaching language and convert body-focused instructions to effect-focused ones.
    External Focus of Attention, Made Practical
  8. Coached practice with targeted feedback
    Attempt the task yourself while a coach observes and provides immediate, specific feedback on process.
    Cognitive Apprenticeship: Learning by Making Thinking Visible
  9. Establish a no-argument rule in feedforward exchanges
    In structured feedforward exchanges, neither party evaluates or debates the suggestions — only listens and notes.
    Feedforward: Future-Focused Feedback That Actually Changes Behavior
  10. Close the GROW loop with session review
    At the start of the next session, review what was committed and what actually happened before setting a new goal.
    The GROW Coaching Model, Made Practical

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