Kindly Review

1Why Feedback Hurts

Sharing your ideas in a professional environment can be terrifying. Lots of people are not brave enough to try. First, congratulations for wanting to put your ideas into the world and see if they take flight.

We've all received feedback and input our entire lives: that first smile as an infant when we finally pooped for the first time. High fives and raises for a job well done. But also frowns and disapproving tones when we've missed the mark.

In this book, we're talking about feedback on your creative work – in essence, your ideas. A creative idea can span a wide range of work. It can be writing, graphic design, presentation, or new product pitches. I am a writer with a BA in journalism who now produces communications products for a living, so I'm mainly writing this book from the perspective of communications and marketing. Still, it can be applied to any creative work or ideas. It's the process, not the purpose, that is important.

Beyond my time as a consultant, I've been brave enough to share my creative work since I was a child. I've also been giving feedback and critique to teams on their creative work since high school. I've received critiques and given feedback on creative work since age 16. That's a lot of time to process my reactions to feedback and give thought to how it can be better.

But for me, it all starts with a red pen.

My first memory of hurtful feedback was in third grade. I remember giving my mother a story I had written. I was so proud ...