Reading the latest chapter of One Piece when Luffy landed in a new land, he made some comments about it and the other character was telling him, he’s too straightforward.
But Luffy is being Luffy, he won’t think twice or considerate about other people’s feeling. He is just saying what comes to his mind.
Last week, I received some feedbacks from one of my colleagues and at the end of the feedback session he asked me, if he made me looks bad. I replied that it’s okay, because it helps me to be better at my work. Genuinely.
But some people are just criticizing for the sake of criticizing. They like to put you down for whatever reasons. Could be they think by pulling you down, it motivate you to be better, or simply jealousy.
I don’t mind to hear a genuine feedback, with the right intention. Although I still think that pulling you down to motivate you to be better is rather “sadist”.
I believe that giving honest and genuine feedback also means, I care about you. But there are times that I stop doing it when the other party becomes too defensive.
I’m not saying that we are perfect or I am better than you. But without knowing the story behind it, what makes everyone of us behaves in certain way, or as simple as culture, can easily creates misunderstanding.
Feedback should be the way to understand each other better and, in work context, to understand expectation better.
It should not be an order. If the other party doesn’t understand or doesn’t want to take it, for whatever reasons, then let it be. We can only try it again and again, or just let it go. The feeling must be mutual.
Giving feedback can be like opening up a can of worm. But if you give the right worm to the fish, it will turn out to be beautiful.
How about you? Have you given any honest feedback lately? Or receiving one?
What do you think?
