Feedback Thoughts
Learning About Feedback:
My biggest take away from learning about feedback is that it is very important to remain positive in your own criticism. I read 6 Bad Mental Habits That Sabotage Your Success which talks about the biggest habits we make that are negative towards our success. I really liked this article, because it listed things we all do to some extent that inhibit our ability to perform our best. It didn't just focus on the negative, though. For each wrong thing we do that the article listed, it gave a positive alternative to overcome it. For example, when the article mentions how "making excuses" causes us to get stuck, it suggests we focus on what we "can do." Teaching us positive alternatives is the best way to overcome something negative. This article does a fantastic job at saying this and putting it into use. Positive reinforcement is the best way to get the positive results we want. I think that this is a very important lesson to keep in mind when reading feedback on our own work and when writing feedback for others.
Image: Smiling Dogs
Giving Feedback:
In the article, Criticizing (Common Criticisms of) Praise Alfie Kohn starts off by discussing what it is like receiving praise and citations from people expressing views very different from what he was trying to convey. Praise can often make us skeptical. We seem to expect more negative reactions from our own work and shy away form praise, especially when it comes from an opposing view. Sometimes it is difficult to understand that praise comes with criticism. Criticism that truly helps us grow is given with compliments. To understand where we went wrong, we first need to see where we went right. When having someone review a story for you, it helps us if we hear things like "Well, your character development is great and really brings life to the story. However, your plot is a bit weak here and could use a bit more explanation." To truly understand the problem, we need guidance to where the issues are at. This is something that can often be very difficult to remember when critiquing others' works. You can't be entirely negative. You have to help them remain positive by praising along the way. We have become so accustomed to negativity and lack of praise, we don't trust a compliment any more and we need to change that.
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