Getting negative feedback
Can criticism really be helpful? Wal-Mart, the largest retail establishment in the world, uses customer complaints as a management tool for understanding its market, not a time to call the PR guys. Is the reported fly in the coffee of a big chain a time to check the procedures or an occasion to dodge the issue — we only serve freshly brewed coffee without flies? (Is a Laglag langaw syndicate at work?)
Letters to the editor pointing out errors of fact or arguing a point with an opinion writer or reporter can help in checking bias and sloppy research. True, there are perennial letterwriters who see themselves as undiscovered columnists, sometimes not even bothering to refute anything that came out but simply spouting off their irrelevant opinions.
Restaurants routinely leave a score sheet for their customers. Ratings on food, prices, speed of service (did you finish Les Miserables while waiting for the soup?), courtesy, and ambience are tracked. The reliability of the feedback is dubious when the server being rated is the one collecting the score sheets. Does she really turn in negative reviews (the server put her thumb on my catsup)?
It is standard for basketball teams to review tapes of losing games, maybe even filing away the text messages of the boss on how shitty the plays were. Somehow, a post-mortem on defeats can be more instructive when emotion is removed. It is not every outing, after all, that three-point attempts in the fourth quarter are converted on the way to a blowout victory against a tough team. Still, even here the conclusion can be unexpected — the referees gave more foul throws to the other side, as in 30 to 5.
Candidates who commission polls tend to look for approval numbers. These are the ones they trumpet to the media. But does anyone in the staff pay attention to the disapproval rating? Careful analysis of this can provide clues to what to do next — I have to change my citizenship again.
The negatives cannot be too dominant in a feedback loop. If the disapproval rating is routinely rising in each poll, the message may be stark — switch back to teaching rather than cooking up another plea for orphans left on church doors.
The learning opportunity in losing one contest or two provides the enlightenment needed for a comeback. This is the appeal and inspiration of the reigning beauty queen.
Feedback is routine in the corporate world. A performance rating session for the executive can be as stressful as a visit to the dentist for root canal. The fists clench tightly on the arms of the chair as someone in authority probes one’s open mouth. In the case of the corporate dentist, no saliva suction is provided. Neither is there an opportunity to spit out blood on the basin where the swirling water takes it out of sight. Most of the bleeding is internal anyway. And anesthesia is not an option.
Still, getting negative feedback on one’s shortcomings can be an opportunity to improve (or give up). Often, the examiner and examinee are in disagreement. The session can only be fair if there is symmetry. The subordinate must also be given a chance to evaluate his boss — “your directions are always vague. I don’t know if you really know what you’re doing.” This new type of dialogue is known as the 360 method, referring to the degrees of a circle where the “slings and arrows of outrageous fortune” (Hamlet) can come from all sides. Note the attribution. Caution: Honesty may be a recipe for a quick exit, for the down-up rating.
In social situations the reluctance to correct someone arises from the fear of unnecessarily giving offense. When somebody forgets to zip up when taking pictures of the group, do you tell him — Hey, Buddy, your fly is open? Ditto for snot hanging from the nose, green salad stuck between the front teeth and a dead fly resting on the forehead — oh is that a wart? Maybe, you can just text the message?
Negative feedback is hard to take. People prefer to be stroked with false flattery. Even when breaking up, there is still a reluctance to offend — and you know, Dear, your grammar has room for improvement. This euphemism ensures the continuation of civility… or a nasty retort — grammar, that’s all you’re good at.
A performance rating session for the executive can be as stressful as a visit to the dentist for root canal.