Career · FORTUNE
Fortune #23
Mixed — reflect carefully
Vague feedback can send effort to the wrong place. Ask for one example, one criterion, and a chance to check again.
QUOTE CARD
A quote for you
“แทบไม่มีสิ่งใดเป็นไปไม่ได้สำหรับความขยันหมั่นเพียรและทักษะ”
— ซามูเอล จอห์นสัน
นักเขียน นักวิจารณ์ และผู้จัดทำพจนานุกรมภาษาอังกฤษคนสำคัญ
- Person
- Samuel Johnson
- Source work
- The History of Rasselas, Prince of Abissinia (1759) / Ch. XII
- Source text
- Few things are impossible to diligence and skill.
STORY & REFLECTION
“Make it better” with an example attached
Guidance-based illustration · “Make it better” with an example attached
Illustrative scene: An employee hears, “The slides are not sharp enough.” They spend the evening changing colors and fonts, while the reviewer wanted the conclusion on the first page.
They ask, “If I change one thing, what should the audience understand in a minute?” The answer leads to a content revision rather than a cosmetic one, followed by another review.
OPM advises feedback tied to a situation, behavior, and impact rather than vague calls to “communicate better.” A concrete example makes improvement easier to act on.
A reviewer may mean well, but the recipient still needs enough information to change the work.
Reflection
Improve needs to become observable behavior.
A small action today
Ask for one concrete example and a measure.
A question to reflect on
Which behavior or section of the work does the feedback actually mean?