Start-Stop-Continue
Why we chose the world's simplest feedback framework for the hardest conversation in leadership.
Most leadership feedback is too vague to act on. A manager reads "communicate better" on Monday and does nothing different on Tuesday, because the feedback doesn't name a behavior. Start-Stop-Continue fixes this. It asks three questions: what should this leader start doing, stop doing, and continue doing? Each one forces a specific, behavioral answer. The result is feedback a leader can act on tomorrow morning.
Three questions, zero ambiguity
After respondents rate a leader on eight dimensions, we ask three open-ended questions: What should this leader start doing? What should they stop doing? What should they continue doing?
The framework was created by Phil Daniels, a psychology professor at Brigham Young University, and popularized through Harvard Business School by Thomas DeLong (HBR, 2011). It has since become the default feedback structure in Agile retrospectives, executive coaching, and peer review programs worldwide. We chose it over more complex alternatives (SBI, STAR, free-form essays) for one reason: it forces specificity.
What most people get wrong
The most common mistake is treating all three prompts as variations of "what should change." They are not. "Start" and "Stop" are about change. "Continue" is about reinforcement. Skipping "continue" or treating it as an afterthought turns the exercise into a list of complaints.
The second mistake is vagueness. "Start being more transparent" is not useful. "Start sharing the reasoning behind decisions in the team chat" is. The framework only works when respondents name observable behaviors, not traits.
Why three categories, not one
Most feedback frameworks ask some version of "what could this person do better?" Without structure, the answers collapse into vague evaluations: "communicate more," "be more strategic," "show more empathy." These read like horoscopes. They describe a feeling without naming what to do about it.
The three-category structure forces a different kind of thinking for each prompt. "Start" asks for a new behavior. "Stop" asks the respondent to name something specific they want less of. "Continue" asks them to identify what is already working. Together they produce feedback that is specific, balanced, and actionable.
One thing per category
We ask for one answer per prompt, not a list of five. When people can list everything they can think of, the signal drowns in noise. One item forces them to choose the one that matters most, and it removes the decision fatigue of an open-ended text box.
Numbers tell you where. Words tell you what.
A leader's dimension scores show them where their gaps are. Start-Stop-Continue tells them what to do about it. A low score on Openness tells you something is broken. "Stop interrupting people when they disagree with you in meetings" tells you what. One without the other is incomplete. Together, they give a leader everything they need to start closing the gap.
References
- DeLong, T.J. (2011). "Three Questions for Effective Feedback." Harvard Business Review.
- Sheridan, S. & Burt, J. (2014). "Stop, Start, Continue: A structured approach to feedback quality." Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education, 40(5).