In my previous roles with organisations of varying sizes there has been an oft-repeated grievance: my feedback is too harsh.
For the most part, co-workers take my feedback as a personal diatribe.
I find this spectacularly unfair.
My critique of work is not a personal attack. It does not mean I do not like you. I am extremely critical of my own work. I am my harshest critic.
I am harsh because I take pride in my work. It's not vanity or hubris - it's just that I expect my work to be of the highest kind.
I constantly try to out-do myself. When I cannot, I feel like I'm letting myself down.
I believe that it is impossible to be a high-performing professional if you abet mediocrity. Why should I then expect anything lesser from others?
When you present your work for my scrutiny, I will do so with much appetite and painstaking meticulousness. I will invest my time, judgment, and emotion in feedback that makes your work better.
And should it occur to me that your work is shoddy, half-baked, or dis-interesting, my feedback will be harsh. Because how dare you waste my time - and yours - by not giving your best.
My feedback doesn't stem from comparing your work to someone else's. It comes from comparing it to your previous work. How did you improve? In what way did you make it better than last? If you sacrificed your obligation to the work at hand, it's not worth anyone's time at all.
And that is where the criticism lies. It is not an invective of you or your person.
You may choose to listen to what I have to say. You may choose not to.
If all you hear is a personal assault, that is my grievance.
Originally published March 5, 2020. A grievance against criticism.
Image: Public Domain CC0 Image
The Scream (1895) by Edvard Munch. Original from The Art Institute of Chicago. Digital enhanced by rawpixel.