“No feedback is good feedback” is a bad management habit

You’ve probably heard the idea that “no feedback is good feedback.”

That is a ridiculous idea. Silence breeds confusion, slows growth, and hides risk.

Where the saying comes from—and what people mean by it

In many teams, managers only speak up when something breaks. Over time, people learn that a quiet manager equals “you’re fine.” The habit also comes from overloaded calendars. When time is tight, leaders postpone feedback until a performance review or a crisis. Some use the phrase to avoid micro-managing or to be “hands-off.” Others say it to sound reassuring.

In practice, the sentence means two things: “I have no complaints right now,” and “I don’t have time to think about your development.” Both block improvement.

Why silence backfires

Silence turns expectations into guesswork. People guess wrong, ship work that misses the mark, and then get surprised by a late correction. That pattern reduces quality and motivation. It also hides early warning signs—small issues that would have been easy to correct last week become expensive problems next quarter.

Consider your own week. Do your direct reports know what “good” looks like for the next deliverable? Could each person state one behavior to keep doing and one to adjust? If not, the absence of feedback is already a performance risk.

What good managers do instead

Good managers run a continuous feedback loop. They give both reinforcing feedback (“keep doing this, here’s why it works”) and redirecting feedback (“change this, here’s how”). They do it in small, specific doses, close to the moment, without drama.

A simple pattern works:

• Name the situation and behavior. “In yesterday’s customer call, you jumped straight to pricing.”
  
  
  

• Describe the impact. “The buyer pulled back, and we lost discovery time.”
  
  
  

• Make a clear next step. “Open with three needs questions before numbers on the next call.”
  
  
  

That level of clarity produces learning. It also builds trust, because people see the manager is paying attention and wants them to succeed.

Practical ways to keep feedback flowing

• Use weekly 1:1s for two short prompts: “What should I keep doing?” and “What should I change?” Rotate who goes first.
  
  
  

• Give 30-second micro-feedback after key moments—demos, standups, interviews. Don’t wait for a meeting.
  
  
  

• Set explicit quality bars before work starts. Then assess against those bars, not vague impressions.
  
  
  

• Ask peers and cross-functional partners for one observation you can pass along. Close the loop by sharing it with attribution.
  
  
  

• Track feedback debt. If someone hasn’t received actionable feedback this week, you owe them one specific note.
  
  
  

How coaching helps leaders get a steady stream of feedback

Coaches remove the guesswork and the latency. A coach observes your patterns, holds up a mirror, and turns fuzzy impressions into concrete behaviors you can repeat or adjust. You get practice scripts for hard messages, better questions for 1:1s, and a cadence that keeps development moving even when your calendar is crowded.

Coaches also help you collect more data. You can run quick 360 pulses, review recordings or notes, and convert them into targeted experiments: “Do more X, try less Y, measure Z next week.” The result is a reliable feedback engine—first for you, then for your team.

A simple, human close

Leaders grow fastest when feedback is frequent, specific, and shared in good faith. Build that system for yourself and for your team, and the work will get easier and better.

Relying on others to give you feedback can sometimes be a bottleneck. You can also try AI Coaching to give you continuous feedback. We’ve built out an AI coaching assistant that we think does a really good job as a coach. Give us a try, and let us know what you think.