SBI: feedback that names behavior, not character

Describe what a camera would have seen — not who you’ve decided the person is.

The idea

Good feedback has three parts and one habit. Anchor to a specific Situation (“in yesterday’s review”), describe the observable Behavior (“the deck went out two hours late”), and state the Impact you saw (“the client saw a draft”). Then ask for their view instead of handing down a verdict. Traits like “careless” can’t be disputed or fixed — only defended. Behaviors can be discussed. Build a line below and watch the listener react.

How it works

Four moves, in order — the last one keeps it a conversation, not a sentence:

S  Situation  Pin it to one recent moment.
              "In yesterday's review" — not "you always".

B  Behavior   Say what a camera captured.
              "Sent the deck two hours late" —
              not "you're careless". Traits can't be fixed.

I  Impact     State the effect you observed.
              "The client saw a draft and we lost time."

?  Then ask   End with a genuine question, not a verdict.
              "What happened on your end?"

A template you can lean on:

"In [specific situation],
 I noticed [observable behavior].
 The impact was [what you saw happen].
 What's your read on it?"

When to use it

Fits	Trade-off
One-on-ones, peer feedback, in-the-moment corrections, coaching conversations.	SBI needs a moment you observed. For secondhand or aggregate feedback (“people say…”) gather specifics first. And it’s for behavior change, not for delivering a final verdict — a rating or termination needs clarity, not open questions.

Watch out for

• Trait language. “Lazy, careless, unprofessional” names character. It invites a fight and gives the person nothing to actually change.
• “You always / you never.” One counter-example derails the whole talk. Anchor to a single, specific moment instead.
• Skipping the impact. “You sent it late” with no consequence feels like nitpicking. The impact is the reason it matters.
• A verdict disguised as a question. “Don’t you think that was unprofessional?” isn’t an invitation — it’s a judgment with a question mark.
• The feedback sandwich. Burying the behavior between two compliments hides the point; the person often only hears the bread.

Worked example

The interviewer asks, “Tell me about a time you gave difficult feedback.” A weak answer: “I told them they were being careless.” A strong, SBI-shaped one: “On the payments pull request, I pointed out that three tests were commented out and the null check was missing. I said that’s why it failed in staging and blocked the release for an hour — then I asked what happened. They’d rushed a hotfix; we agreed on a pre-merge checklist. Naming the behavior instead of calling them careless kept it a problem-solving conversation, not an argument.”

Check yourself