thinking tool.

Summary:

Tunking is a feedback process that invites blunt critique. The practice calls for honest feedback, and is made in good faith with the people on the receiving end in the forefront of mind. The people doing the tunking say what they mean, and mean what they say. The people doing the tunking do this because they want the people being tunked to succeed. It calls on those receiving the feedback to reflect deeply and act on the feedback graciously.

Real world application:

Prior to opening a new satellite office I invited three team members, who had not been deeply engaged with the expansion project, to offer robust feedback on the facility. The trio, representing more than 60 years of public service experience (ranging in age from 22 to 65), visited the remote office with the express purpose of offering direct feedback on the amenity, accessibility, and security of the premises. As trusted, and much loved team members, they were given license to be blunt and draw down on their experience in order to share ideas on what could be done differently and better. The feedback was priceless, with the trio supplying ‘fresh eyes’ on a long drawn out renovation. Simple suggestions improved the security of staff on the front desk, resolved some information technology gripes, and prompted storage solutions that had not be considered by the previous minds working on the project. The generous feedback was graciously received and acted upon. In the absence of such a process, or in the absence of a “trust-based” and “psychologically safe” work environment, the same team members may have visited the site, kept their views to themselves, or shaped their feedback in order to stroke the ego of their leader.

Practical Opportunity:

What would it take to implement tunking in the context of the annual local government budget setting cycle? Currently, local governments post a draft (near final) budget online near the very end of the planning cycle and advertise for a short period for public comment. Year on year this results in next to zero submissions nor practical feedback for the council in my jurisdiction. The public consultation phase is perfunctory. If the act of tunking shaped this phase, the council could seek to assemble community members with a variety of expertise, early in the drafting process, and critique relevant sections of the budget and accompanying planning and prioritisation documents. Provided engagement and representation was fair and transparent, it could potentially enhance the quality of the feedback and ideas available to inform the Council’s final decisions.