The Art of Critique

When you come across these words: criticize and critique, what definitions does your mind bring forth? To critique means to analyse, comment on, review or state your opinion or reaction to a set of ideas, or work of art. To criticize means to say that you disapprove of something or something or say what you don’t like or think is wrong about something or somebody. Did you notice how many times the word ‘wrong’ is used when you criticize? To criticize focuses more on the wrong and less on the facts and specific issues or ideas. 

And that is why to critique is the best form of correction – with the goal to bring about positive learning. In work and every aspect of human dealings, the need to be specific about the outcome and ways that will encourage the out of that which we want often boils down to how well we employ critique. 

How do you appreciate people while giving them a consistent stream of positive and constructive performance feedback? You can do the following: 

• Praise people for doing a good job
• Send personal notes of commendation
• Don’t fail to let them know when they goof too
• When you evaluate a person’s performance, be honest. You do them a dis-service when you give them praise where they are lacking. Be specific about the specific area you want them to do better
• Constant improvement should be a way of life. You should let them know WHAT they need to improve
• No feedback is bad. But much worse is incorrect or bad feedback

Leadership requires a good dose of coaching. As a helpful coach, give specific information about what is wrong, combined with the corrective feedback and positive expectation of the person’s ability to improve.

The worst way to give feedback, says Daniel Goleman in his book, Emotional Intelligence, is during an amygdala hijack, when the result is inevitably a character attack. Neglecting to give performance feedback is equally bad or has a pernicious effect. When an organisation deprive employees of specific job-related information, they may unwittingly inhibit their performance.

People hunger of honest feedback:

• It is not about giving brutal feedback – it’s a hidden sign for pure competitive aggression – an attack disguised as “helpfulness”.
• Feedback is not a macho game score of one-upmanship. You need to pay attention to the impact on the person receiving it. Being too blunt is not authentic help. This is not a game.

Always expect the best of so-called low performers despite their abominable histories. This however does not mean that you should hire someone who has no talent, capacity, expertise or bare skills needed for a job in the name of being fair. The business is in existence to succeed and make returns. 

• Show you believe in their ability to change
• Treat them more like winners rather than losers you’ve already deemed will fail no matter what.

How to Affect People Positively – The Pygmalion Effect

Pygmalion, a play by George Bernard Shaw presented to the public in 1912 was named after a Greek mythological character. The play is based on the Professor of Phonetics, Henry Higgins where he makes a bet that he can train a bedraggled girl who sells cockney flowers, Elizabeth Doolittle, to pass as a duchess at an ambassador’s garden party by teaching her how to assume a veneer of gentility though her command of impeccable speech. And as the story ended, he succeeded spectacularly.

The Pygmalion Effect therefore means expecting the best from people can be a self-fulfilling prophecy. How can you make this happen at work, in the home, with friends and wherever you need people’s skills and abilities?

• Give them a suitable challenge with a vote of confidence. 
• Sometimes let others take the lead in setting their own goals, rather than dictating the terms and manner of their development.
• Communicate the belief in your employees that they have capacity to pilot their destiny – initiative.
• Sometimes use the technique where you point to problems without offering the solutions – this allows your employees to find the solution themselves.
• Use of Socratic Dialogue during ongoing assignment will give the person the needed training, and experience to overcome challenges is another technique. 
• Delegating responsibilities, or putting the person in charge of a project that will call forth new skills, well demands a sensitivity to the readiness of the person being coached – if the assignment is too easy, little will be learned; if it is too difficult, the person may experience a setback.
• Putting too much emphasis on coaching and development at the expense of other needs is a danger. Leadership and management skills are equally important for best performance.

References: Emotional Intelligence by Daniel Goleman, Wikipedia and Oxford Advance Learner’s Dictionary.