There’s No Such Thing as Constructive Criticism
Constructive criticism. When you think about it, it sounds like an oxymoron. The constructive piece implies that, when relayed to another, this type of statement is designed to help the recipient. This makes sense, as this is the purpose of feedback—information designed to help another person. You can guide another person by helping them reach a desired behavior or guide them regarding behaviors they should avoid.
So, what does it mean to criticize someone? Merriam-Webster defines it as pointing out faults as a part of judging or evaluating something or someone (criticize, n.d.). However, simply pointing out what someone is doing wrong just labels the undesired behavior. Reprimands may stop the behavior, but you cannot obtain consistent business results by simply telling people stop undesired behaviors: Those behaviors need to be replaced with something. If leaders do not help their direct reports find an acceptable behavior, then they are leaving success to chance. It would be a roll of the dice by simply punishing the wrong behavior through criticism and expecting the desired behavior will emerge to replace it. Even if you explain the replacement behavior, you’re still leaving it to chance that the behavior won’t change.
Employees are engaging in undesirable behaviors because those behaviors are working for them. A behavior repeated occurs because, over time, the individual finds value in that behavior. The behavior might not be working the way the boss wants it, but it is working for the employee or they wouldn’t be doing it. For example, their behavior might get the job done faster, might be the easier route, or it might be what everyone else is doing. It might not be the most efficient, safe, or ethical way, but it’s working. So, simply punishing what works for an employee and telling them what to do instead does not automatically mean that this new method will work for them. It doesn’t mean that the employee will find value in this behavior.
If the replacement behavior doesn’t result in something positive for the employee, then they are either (a) going to engage in the new behavior only to avoid criticism from the boss, or (b) will eventually return to the behavior that works for them. Given that a manager needs to communicate and interact with a direct report to manage performance, it is not optimal to lead in a way that results in the direct report simply avoiding having to interact with their manager. Further, you also don’t want to risk replacing an undesirable behavior with another undesirable behavior.
So, even if criticism is designed to help, the solution is to focus more on the feedback statement and ensure that the replacement behavior is positive reinforcement (i.e., something good happens as a result of the replacement behavior). This is the difference between constructive feedback and constructive criticism. Constructive feedback is designed to help through coaching conversations that help the individual learn why the undesirable behavior isn’t preferred and that the value is engaging in proper behavior. The critical differentiator is that constructive feedback should be followed up with positive reinforcement. This is how constructive feedback will maximize performance impact: The employee needs to see that good things happen (e.g., praise, easier job tasks) when they adhere to the feedback. Criticism, in its most basic form may be intended to help, but it simply points out what someone did wrong. You will save time and improve morale by helping your direct reports learn what to do instead as well as seeing value in adhering to your feedback.
Posted by Nic Weatherly, Ph.D.
Dr. Weatherly is the CEO and Managing Consultant at Deliberate Coaching International with a proven track record of maximizing operating revenues and organizational and staff performance by building holistic systems and targeted training programs, linking performance-improvement initiatives to key business metrics, and strategically aligning short- and long-range goals to the organization’s mission, vision, and values.
Criticize. (n.d.). Merriam-Webster.com. Retrieved from https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/criticize.
