I'd almost rather hear something's wrong than this endless warm fog of positivity. Review season is coming and I have no read on whether I'm exceeding, meeting, or quietly underperforming.
What questions do you ask to pull real, specific feedback out of a manager who defaults to vague reassurance?
'Looks good, keep it up' is basically no feedback, and it's a bit on you to fish for the real thing. I started asking specific questions in 1:1s, like 'what's one thing I could've done better on that last project?' A pointed question is much harder to wave off than a vague 'any feedback for me?'
The vague-positive manager is its own kind of hard. Two questions that pull specifics out of mine: "If you had to name one thing that would make me more effective, what would it be?" and "What would someone at the next level up do differently in my spot?" Forces a comparison instead of a vibe.
