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[Stefan Tauner]

On Sun, 7 Feb 2021 19:25:55 +0000 (UTC)
Skyler Hawthorne <osm at dead10ck.com> wrote:

> Feb 7, 2021 13:28:39 Paul Allen <pla16021 at gmail.com>:
> 
> > It may be a failing on my part, but I can often see when an idea has problems
> > without knowing how to fix those problems.  Do you really think that
> > I should not call attention to the problems unless I can also suggest
> > a solution?  Do you think that ignoring a problem causes it to
> > cease to be a problem?  
> 
> Consider someone who puts together an import plan, and presents it to everyone for feedback. Negative feedback is good; if there is a problem, it is valuable to voice it. However, consider the perspective of someone who spends a lot of time doing research and planning, who gets a reponse that is just something like "This would conflate badly in this situation", and nothing else.
> 
> You could instead say, "Great work on the plan! I can see this being very valuable. I did consider that in this situation, the data might end up conflating badly. I don't know the data set as well as you do, but do you think there is a way to fix it?"
> 
> In the first one, when you only say something negative with nothing else, it gives the implicit impression that you only see a problem with the plan, and by extension, you do not want it to proceed. It is a form of gatekeeping.

This impression is, however, created at the receiver's end. This is one
of the many cultural and personal differences that make collaboration
hard. The main goal of critique is to show ways to improve something.
To that end, highlighting the problematic parts is essential and
constructive by itself. I personally don't want to read a lengthy and
florid praise of my work if it is not truthful and adds nothing to the
feedback. I find that actually appalling in many instances because of
its insincerity and value the rest of the feedback as less trustworthy.
However, I am aware that this view is very weird to other people and
try to compensate for that when writing feedback to others as well as
when being on the receiving end. I certainly don't always succeed
though.

TL;DR: Please don't try to enforce subjective criteria on how feedback
is to be presented.

That being said, giving positive feedback if it is warranted is of
course important, not not only psychologically but also to make sure
good parts remain on refinements and good ideas get re-applied in
future situations. Simply saying thanks to somebody investing their time
in good faith does not hurt anybody either.
-- 
Kind regards/Mit freundlichen Grüßen, Stefan Tauner