274: When Confidence Gets in the Way of Feedback | University of North Carolina Professor Elad Sherf

Elad Sherf is a Professor of Organizational Behavior at the University of North Carolina. His research examines workplace fairness and feedback seeking. He also studies why managers resist feedback, including why they avoid asking for input or ignore input when it is offered.

His research has been published in leading management and psychology journals, and he also serves as an associate editor of Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes.

Before earning his PhD, Elad served for four years in the Israeli Air Force and practiced law in Israel for three years. He received his PhD in organizational behavior from the University of Maryland, his MBA from the AGSM MBA Program at the University of South Wales in Australia, and his LLB, BA, and LLM from Reichman University in Israel.

In this episode we discuss the following:

• Elad’s research highlights an interesting dilemma: When we feel uncertain, we often ask for feedback. But when we feel confident, we assume we do not need it, when the feedback could have helped us.
• Confidence should not always be a signal to move forward without input. Sometimes confidence should be the trigger to pause and ask, “What am I missing? What can’t I see? How might someone else view this differently?”
• We often underestimate the value of other people’s perspectives. And sometimes one small comment can help us adapt and treat someone more fairly, especially on the margin.
• Managers often assume they understand what employees need or how employees are experiencing a situation. But feedback helps us move from default assumptions to better, more context-specific decisions.
• The next time we feel certain is the exact moment we may want to ask one more question.