Interlude: Giving, Receiving, and Accepting Feedback
Lately, I've had a lot of conversations with people about feedback. And in these conversations, I've noticed a trend: people are quick to give negative feedback and slow to give positive feedback (if they give positive feedback at all).
I wonder if this trend is because people often associate feedback with constructive criticism. But what about constructive credit? Positive feedback is just as constructive as negative feedback. Knowing what to do is just as important as knowing what not to do.
When I review someone's manuscript or grant, I make sure to highlight the positive attributes of the writing as well. I want encourage the good writing habits while also pointing out the habits that could be improved.
So the next time you are reviewing someone's writing, take an extra pass through the text to focus on giving constructive credit on what the authors did well.
And in case you'd like to learn strategies to give, get, and accept feedback, I put together a themed issue for this week's round-up.
Let's get to it...
💌 Round-up
💻 From My Desk
Key Questions to Ask When Reviewing Your Grant Proposal
Constructive feedback is a valuable part of writing a grant. But many authors will ask for feedback with vague questions that lead to vague answers. In this article, I share specific questions you can ask colleagues who review your grant so that you can get specific feedback to constructively improve the project.
🎧 Listening
How to Master the Difficult Art of Receiving (and Giving) Feedback
In this podcast episode, Tim Ferriss and Sheila Heen discuss approaches to giving and receiving feedback. I appreciated Tim's approach of asking for feedback on his writing. He asks reviewers:
What do you find confusing or unclear?
If I could only keep 20% of this chapter, what should I absolutely keep?
If I had to cut 20% of this chapter, what should I cut?
Where does your mind wander when you're reading the chapter?
Then he looks at patterns between reviewers to help him make decisions about how to revise the text.
🖥️ Watching
How to Respond to Negative Feedback at Work
Do you struggle to accept negative feedback? In this video, Chad Littlefield shares some great advice about how to handle negative feedback at work (and at home). He suggests that we "catch" feedback to examine it objectively and pull out the hint of truth to keep and address.
The secret to giving great feedback
In this TED video, cognitive psychologist LeeAnn Renniger shares a four-part formula you can use to deliver a difficult message: (1) getting a micro-yes, (2) giving a data point, (3) sharing an impact statement, and (4) ending with a question.
💬 Quote
“The trick to viewing feedback as a gift is to be more worried about having blind spots than hearing about them.” – James Clear
Thank you so much for reading.
Warmly,
Crystal
