8How to Critique Without Being Critical
“A well‐placed critique can be a catalyst for growth and improvement.”
—Albert Einstein
Critique is a formal word that typically refers to a careful judgment in which someone gives an opinion. It means to review or examine something critically. It should not be about finding fault, but rather a process of providing helpful feedback to improve someone's work.
When you share this code word, you say, “I'm inviting you to critique my work; I want you to ask the difficult questions! Do your due diligence—I need to know: why isn't this going to work?”
If you ask to critique something, it might sound like: “Are you okay if I offer some critique? I would love to help you make this better.”
A critique can take many forms, but generally it involves identifying the strengths and weaknesses of a work and providing constructive feedback on how it can be improved or why something won't work.
Critiquing can be a valuable tool for helping individuals or groups improve their skills and abilities, and fostering creative and intellectual growth. However, it is crucial that critiques are done constructively and respectfully, and that the person receiving the critique is open to feedback and willing to learn from it.
In this chapter, we will solve a lot of pain by giving you tools on how to critique without being negative—to truly help people by giving it or help you by learning how to receive the critique of others.
The Difference between Critique versus ...
Get The Communication Code now with the O’Reilly learning platform.
O’Reilly members experience books, live events, courses curated by job role, and more from O’Reilly and nearly 200 top publishers.
