GitHub's Feedback Culture: Ryan Nystrom (Director of Engineering, GitHub)

GitHub versus Facebook feedback culture comparison with a breakdown of their key elements and cultural differences. Learn the secrets of a healthy feedback culture both on an organizational and personal level from Ryan Nystrom, Director of Engineering at GitHub.

In this interview we're covering:

• The essential elements of a big company's feedback culture
• GitHub vs Facebook feedback culture comparison
• Formal performance reviews at GitHub
• The benefits of a healthy feedback culture
• Crucial elements to build a feedback culture
• Keeping feedback useful
• Handling strong emotional reactions to feedback
• A leader's role in a good feedback culture
• Gathering feedback as an engineering leader
• When to avoid giving feedback face to face
• HR's involvement in GitHub's feedback culture

Excerpt from the interview:

"When I’m encouraging people to share feedback, I tell them to consider their feedback a data point. I used to be nervous about giving critical feedback about others, because I didn’t want to cause trouble for them.

As a director, if I hear one thing from one person, but I don’t hear it from anyone else, I consider it a small issue. I’ll look into it and ask around if others are observing the same thing. If I see more corroborating evidence, only then will I consider acting on it.

No one is exclusively responsible for the consequences coming from their feedback."

Click here to read the full interview!