Don’t be nice in a debrief (Judy Walker, 4 February 2025)

Summary

If one person praises or compliments another individual or service in a formal debrief situation, alarm bells should be ringing. Yes, I know it seems counter intuitive to suggest that offering positive feedback might have a negative side to it in a debrief. Surely everyone needs to receive praise and compliments and feel good about what they’ve done? Whilst that may be true in many other situations, in a debrief context, such as an After Action Review (AAR), praise is a like Trojan Horse. It looks like it is one thing but carries with it many other meanings as well as opportunities .Praise isn’t all bad in a debrief or AAR, as its usually an indicator that there is something valuable to explore so it shouldn’t be ignored but it must be handled as sensitively as blame.