Giving and Receiving Criticism Effectively
Frank A. Clark said, “Criticism, like rain, should be gentle enough to nourish a man’s growth without destroying his roots.” Criticism has been viewed in a negative fashion for ages and yet it is a daily part of our lives. In this paper, we examine why we seek out criticism and opportunities to criticize one another; how to give criticism effectively and without destroying our relationships with others; and how to effectively receive criticism so that it benefits us and helps us grow.
Why Seek Criticism
As human beings, it is generally believed that we tend to criticize others because of our own miserable conditions and disappointments. While it is usual that we would all rather not be criticized occasionally we must seek some sort of criticism or feedback in order to improve and reach the potential we possess. There are a few reasons as to why we seek criticism even when we dislike it so much.
To Gain Insight
In an interview with a supervisor at the home security and home automation company Vivint, it was pointed out that we seek criticism so that we may “gain insight into our own practices and work” (Howard, 2013). Getting another perspective on our performance can help us to move up in our professions, as well as make us feel a sense of progress and improvement as we realize our individual strengths and weaknesses and work to turn those weaknesses into strengths.
To Validate Ourselves
Oftentimes we seek out criticism or feedback as a way to validate ourselves and our perspective. Many of us deliver criticism simply because it makes us feel better about ourselves. In an article entitled On Criticism and Being Criticized: Some Considerations, it is stated that “Many of us hav...
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...me to consider the source, listen attentively, stay calm, ask clarifying questions, take ownership of our actions/work, and by setting goals.
Works Cited
annie42. (2013, November 16). Research survey on effective criticism. Retrieved from Yahoo! Answers: http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20131114214218AAx3Gcn
Belnap, R. (2013, November 18). Receiving criticism as an art major. (H. Shoop, Interviewer)
Bernstein, J. (2007). On Criticism and Being Criticized: Some Considerations. Modern Psychoanalysis, pp. 11-19.
Hadfield, S. (2013). Giving and receiving criticism. Retrieved from Pearson Education: http://www.pearsoned.co.uk/bookshop/article.asp?item=1795
Howard, J. (2013, November 15). Giving and receiving criticism effectively. (H. Shoop, Interviewer)
Kimes, J. D. (2004). How to deal with criticism more effectively. Strategic Finance, 86(6), pp. 46-49.
Firstly , Tannen introduces the term “culture of critique” by beginning three successive paragraphs with the term so that the reader will not forget it. Tannen then identifies the problem presented by the “culture of critique”, that is, a tendency to attack the person making an argument, or misrepresenting the issue, rather than arguing against their position itself. She points out that instead of listening to reason, people who are caught up in the culture of critique debate as i...
In the article, Caution–Praise Can Be Dangerous, Dweck’s objective was to explain that praising students has a huge impact on performance and their way of thinking. Dweck studied fifth grade students and the effects of different messages said to them after a task. There were three responses: praise for intelligence, praise for effort, and praised for performance (with no explanation on why the students were successful). She described that having an understanding of how praising works could lead teachers to set their students on the right path. In Carol’s opinion the Self Esteem Movement did not produce beneficial results, but rather limited students’ achievement.
Her research has shown that daughters describe a mother’s criticism as “ a magnifying glass held between the sun rays … concentration the rays of imperfection” (971). But for a mother a criticism is just a way to help her daughter improve. As sighted by Deborah “ Mothers subject their daughters to a level of scrutiny people usually reserve for themselves.” Meaning a mother will be a tough critic not because their daughter does not please them, but because a mother only wants what is best for their daughter.
Humans are imperfect. It 's crucial and enlightening to step out of ourselves once a while and look back as a third person. Solicit and appreciate honest feedback that shows us our weaknesses, so that we can work on it to be real, not perfect. However, for some of us, it 's not easy and I understand it. It 's not about how senior we are, how rich we are or even how talented we are, but it 's about how real we are to accept the fact that we are still imperfect.
I have been blessed with many leaders and pillars in my life that challenge me daily. My parents, teachers, community leaders, and even figures in my church all know they can openly challenge my ideas. I try not to take constructive criticism as a put down; but rather as a compliment.
...ide an effective overview of some of the key considerations within this topic and further created the opportunity for me to input some of my own ideas for future use. I believe for example that what has been shown most significantly is the importance of the ‘environment’ in determining how we think; as with the current fast moving world of work and living, often the demand for quick decision making makes reflection more difficult, with people being more likely to make suboptimal decisions utilizing previous experience and intuition. Further is the crucial idea that reflection heavily depends on the ‘type’ of individual; with some having a more numerical ability that facilitates reflection or some being more ‘open-minded’ in their way of thinking (Baron 1985) that means they are likely to consider a broader spectrum of new possibilities, resulting in good decisions.
Gardner, F. (2009). Affirming values: Using critical reflection to explore meaning and professional practice. Reflective Practice, 10(2), 179-190.
(Chap 10) Soliciting feedback is needed to not only improve oneself but also performance and relationship between family, friend, co-workers, etc. I remember when I was little, I would always eat and would be bigger than the other kids in my grade. I hated when people or my family would tell me to lose weight because it hurts my self-esteem. However, if it weren’t for those feedbacks about my health, I think I would not be aware of how I would have many heart problems or diseases in the future. I’ve became more aware of how I am and started to pay attention more to what I eat and how I exercise. By being more aware of health, actions, etc. people are able to be more positive and learn to value opinions and take action. Self-assessment is when using self-inquiry and reflection in order to gain insights into oneself. Especially when reflecting on certain actions and feelings within the team. When I need calm down or reduce my stress levels, I would meditate or paint to relieve myself. Exercising also helped me to increase my endorphins, especially when there’s so many assignments or in need of a break. People adapt more to reflecting themselves would become more satisfied about
The Literary theme that has captivated my interest and has moved me to research and understand the content which it describes or analyze , would be The Ambition of Self improvement. This theme can be related with psychoanalytic criticism. The story that has inspired me to study this theme comes from a short fiction story written by Amy Tan, named “Two Kinds”. This story has primary conflict between mother and daughter, with self improvement being the main theme identified in the text. Conflict that emerges between parents and children are still common factors current in society today. Personal experiences readers have had growing up can ignite an interest for readers to seek understanding of self improvement and the factors of Psychoanalytic criticism that adopt in them.
Criticism is something that we all deal with daily and many of us believe that when we give criticism we are expertly doing so but as we receive criticism we tend to believe the other person is degrading us personally. Since criticism is mainly to judge merits and faults of a person or their actions, it is natural for us to feel defensive as we act the way we do based on the knowledge we have and we feel that the criticism questions our knowledge. Many of us may see criticism as such and act defensively towards it but according to an article called Giving and Receiving Criticism the author Sue Hadfield states, “Constructive criticism, however, can be helpful and lead to better working relations.” (Hadfield, 2013) With this in mind we can process that criticism can be used to give feedback to better ones position or knowledge in that which is being criticized. But how do we give criticism while staying in the favor of the criticized and when receiving criticism how do we differentiate between constructive and destructive criticism? Continuing in the article the author presents certain...
...transcends mere egoism and reveals how the individual itself is constituted by prior patterns of interaction. For Smith, the self is never disembedded or "unencumbered."38 Rather, as he put it, "their approbation necessarily confirms our own self-approbation. Their praise necessarily strengthens our own sense of our own praiseworthiness. In this case, so far is the love of praise-worthiness from being derived altogether from that of praise; that the love of praise seems, at least in a great measure, to be derived from that of praiseworthiness."39 This dialectic between the ego and the other finds expression in sympathy, which provides, by linking self-esteem to social praise, the psychological and social mechanisms undergirding social integration. "Nature," Smith argued, "when she formed man for society, endowed him with an original desire to please, and an original aversion to offend his brethren. She taught him to feel pleasure in their favourable, and pain in their unfavourable regard. She rendered their approbation most flattering and most agreeable to him for its own sake; and their disapprobation most mortifying and most offensive."40
It is a process I have picked up as I have aged because I know that continuous reflection helps everyone reach their potential and ensures that problems are identified early and as such solutions can be developed.
In this chapter, I learned new ways to give and to accept feedback. Personally, I like getting feedback. I like it because it allows me to improve on my work. For example, whenever I write essays I like to have another person look at it so they can catch any small, or even big, mistakes that I may have done. This chapter also taught me that too much negative feedback can really take a toll on a person negatively. When you give somebody too much negative feedback, that person can start to think that they’re doing everything completely wrong and can really be detrimental to their self-esteem. To give good feedback, you should give the person more positive feedback than negative. You should use constructive rather than destructive feedback. Constructive feedback is more information specific and issue specific based on observations without using judgement. Destructive feedback is full of judgement and isn’t helping the person learn. When you get the feedback, it is best to reframe it and then reconstruct it to your advantage. Getting feedback is always a good tool to get but not when it only contains
In conclusion communication plays an important role in people’s personal and professional lives. As much as 70 percent of work time is spent communicating with others. Several barriers to communication exist (Wallace & Roberson, 2009, Chapter 4). They range from emotional feelings to physical obstacles that prevent the free flow of information. Effective listening and feedback is a technique that anyone can learn. Anyone tasked with the job of communicating would need to keep in mind the goal of any communication, specifically, to deliver accurate information. By following the simple strategies of communication, anyone can eliminate the frustration of poor communication.
To sum up, Matthew Arnold tries in his essay to provide a mode about the importance of criticism and to refute the idea that criticism is of less importance than the creative power, asserting that writing criticism actually produces in its practitioner a sense of ecstatic creative joy very similar to that enjoy by the person who engages in creative writing. Therefore, criticism should be disinterested and objective so as to obtain the best known and thought in the world. Matthew Arnold’s essay “The Function of Criticism in the Present Time”, is in fact an important critical work which theorises the politics of criticism.