What does it mean that feedback from reality versus feedback from people?

Direct results and other peoples reactions are both valuable but different types of feedback.

Example: You launch a product feature and track two things: conversion rate (reality feedback) and what your team says about it in the retrospective (people feedback). The conversion rate drops 12%. Your teammates say 'the design looks clean' and 'users will get used to it.' Reality is telling you something your colleagues are too polite — or too invested — to say. Both signals matter, but if you had to pick one to act on first, the conversion rate doesn't have social motives.

Try this: Pick one area of your life where you are currently relying heavily on people's opinions for feedback — a project, a habit, a creative pursuit. Now identify a direct reality signal you could measure instead: revenue, completion rate, time to finish, error count, audience retention, physical measurement. Track both for one week. At the end, compare: where did reality and people agree? Where did they diverge? The divergence points are where your most important learning lives.