Origin of the 360-Degree Species
A circle, with its 360 degrees, is a mathematical concept. The folks who invented the wheel, the Mesopotamians (about 5000-6000 years ago), may have had some influence in developing the concept, as may have the Babylonians and then the Egyptians, who divided representations of the wheel, or circle, into 360 degrees. Archimedes and Claudius Ptolemy are famously associated with the concept.
The concept of 360 degrees applied to feedback is a somewhat newer concept.
The concept gained popularity through organizational usage and success stories. The explosive use came about in the late 1980s when a myriad of consultants decided to develop and use this method. And they did. The fact that several Fortune 1000 companies had class-action suits filed against them for biased performance appraisals helped to push the 360-degree process to a more center-stage role and may have motivated some consultants to jump on and ride the wave. And they did.
The accelerated rise in the use of multi-rater feedback is a direct result of the failure of traditional performance appraisal processes to actually appraise performance. The 1980s bore witness to shocking tales of managers who biased their appraisals. Words like "favoritism" and "cronyism" and "discrimination" were hurled about willy-nilly.
Suddenly, organizations needed an alternative, an alternative that would counterbalance the traditional appraisal process. And so an industry was born.
Actually two industries were born: a legal one of lawyers who represented class-action suits, and another of consultants who suddenly discovered the 360-degree concept.
And then along came authors and gurus who saw linking a 360-degree process to their books or training programs as a really good thing. But that was in the old days. Nonetheless, the concept of 360-degree feedback has grown exponentially since the mid-80s and continues to grow to this day, despite its critics. At last unofficial count there are at least 300 vendors marketing some sort of 360-degree assessment product in the USA alone.
Disclaimer: For the record, we first designed and implemented a 360-assessment in 1976. We are one of the pioneers in the development and acceptance of the 360 process. We continue to be the innovative leader in performance-based 360-assessments.
