Feedback loops

Sometime back i visited a birthday party (that of my colleagues son) and was flooded with the memories of those good old childhood days. After all it has been ages since I went to such a birthday party.

One thing that I noticed in particular was the Hot-Cold game. As a kid I have played it a lot, in case you haven’t then here is a small description. You leave the room and your friend hides an object somewhere. Then you come back in and you try to find the object
while your friend gives you feedback. You head towards the sofa and look under the cushions and your friend says, ”cold.” You then move away from the sofa and head for the bookshelf. Now, your friend says, “warmer.” You keep searching around the bookshelf and eventually you find it. In other words, you use your friend’s feedback as
information about whether to continue on the path you’re on or whether to change course. So when does the game end? It ends when you find the object. Sure, you could
give up the search, but most of the time, that doesn’t happen. It may take a long time to find the object and your path depends on where you begin your search, but most of
the times, eventually, you do find the object.

Now let us take this model and apply it to the very concept of goal. Most of us have one goal or the other which when we don’t achieve, we see failure. Instead we should be seeking feedback. Every time you do not achieve what you wanted to, see it as a feedback that your friend gave you when he said “cold”. Don’t give up. There are others who persist. These strong souls jump right back and do the same thing again. Again apply the model. Will you keep looking around the sofa even after your friend said “cold”? Obviously not. Yet people do the same thing that results in frustration and anger. So from now on when you set a goal listen for feedback. Listen carefully and you will sure hear “hot” or “cold”. Adjust your next move accordingly and keep moving. There is no failure only feedback. Keep trying and you will sure reach your goals. :)