168: You're Doing Feedback Wrong. With Dr Olivia Oginska

Ask most vets what feedback means, and they'll think of a meeting. Once a year - maybe someone explaining that you're not billing enough.

Dr Liv Oginska reckons that meeting is barely feedback at all.

Because real feedback is happening all day: the look on your face when someone walks in, whether you say the thing you've been wrestling with for three weeks, or take it home and complain about it to your partner instead.

There's a famous quote: 'The single biggest problem in communication is the illusion that it has taken place.'

In this episode, we fix that. Liv shows what to actually say when someone goes straight to defensive, why you should never label their emotion, and the work you need to do on yourself first. Plus her practical advice on receiving feedback well.

Dr Olivia Oginska is a vet, emotional intelligence specialist, certified workplace conflict mediator, lecturer at Murdoch University and founder of Human-Savvy. She's also just published research examining the links between feedback skills, psychological safety and turnover intention in veterinary organisations. In other words: does the way we talk to each other influence whether people want to leave? (Spoiler: it matters!)

Somewhere in your practice there's a conversation nobody is having. It's already changing how everyone behaves.

This episode is about having it.

Resources and links

• Liv's work: Human-Savvy A new cohort of the year-long Human-Savvy League leadership mastermind opens in October 2026.
• The Human-Savvy Symposium - a full day of this, in person, Brisbane, Friday 6 November 2026.
• Stuck on a case and want a specialist's eyes on it? Come and ask in our specialist support space.
• Close to 700 clinical episodes with full show notes: thevetvault.com (click "clinical content")
• Vets on Tour - Italy 2027 and the Serengeti with Prof Jill Maddison and Prof Dave Church: vetsontour.com

Topics and time stamps

Why Liv Researched This Topic (4:40)

Personal Feedback Stories: Good and Bad (8:11)

Sponsor Break (12:24)

Feedback Is Constant, Not Just Formal (13:17)

Defining Psychological Safety (19:48)

Personality, Environment, and Fear of Conflict (23:32)

Two-Way Feedback: Leaders and Employees (26:12)

Behaviours That Destroy Psychological Safety (31:15)

Handling Defensiveness (33:29)

Practical Roleplay: Giving Difficult Feedback (37:17)

Feedback vs. Other Causes of Turnover (42:53)

A Vision for the Future of the Profession (47:14)

Closing Thoughts (49:52)