Constructive criticism

Image source: https://reallifeofanmsw.com/2020/05/10/constructive-criticism-3/

Few people like criticism. But most of us can gain from it.

A friend and I were talking about some suggestions made by an editor of his latest book. She called into question the term “master bedroom." - “master” conjuring up the era of slavery and all of its injustices. Yeah, I can see that, as could my friend.

I was once admonished for using the phrase “cracking the whip” when assuring a coworker that I would have my tech staff work on a problem without delay. When I used the term, I was thinking mules as the historical reference to the illusion. She was thinking enslaved persons. I can see that too. I no longer use the saying.

After reading a manuscript of one of my books, a friend noted that I wrote “somewhat unique." “The word ‘unique' cannot have qualifiers. It is an absolute. A thing is either unique or it is not.” I stood corrected and remain so to this day. And I silently moan when others say “somewhat unique” or similar.

After a professional presentation, a librarian told me that I was racist. “Why do you say that?” I asked. “Because your slideshow showed not a single child of color - only white students!” I explained that I used photos of the students in my own school district (filtered to remove identity), which at the time was small, rural, and majority white. But after the criticism, I made sure I included as large a sampling of different races as possible. And it really wasn’t that hard to do.

The final piece of constructive criticism that I appreciate to this day also came after giving a keynote presentation at a conference. Once again a woman (probably a librarian) asked me if I realized that throughout my talk I played with the coins and other objects in my pockets. But perhaps it looked like I was playing with something else and I should not be lecturing about education nor be allowed within 100 yards of a school. Before every talk and workshop that followed, I always removed everything from my front pants pockets and placed them in my suit jacket pockets - and kept my hands out of all my pockets.

Constructive criticism can be embarrassing. Painful. Humiliating. But should one choose to learn from it, it can be invaluable.