CRITICAL
CRITICAL has many meanings, and several of those are critical for us to understand.
CRITICAL means discerning, expressing or involving an analysis of the merits and faults of a piece of work. In this context CRITICAL APPRAISAL is a core foundation of what we do. I'll touch on that more tomorrow. CRITICAL was a theme for the week as four of us were immersed in the Cochrane Colloquium.
CRITICAL is also a concept we use for prioritization. If we have many tasks to do and can't do it all in a given timeframe are there any that are CRITICAL (absolutely necessary to support function or avoid harm)? Those we must prioritize. If there are improvements needed to our content or user interface are there any that are CRITICAL (absolutely necessary to support function or avoid harm) to make sure we prioritize? If CRITICAL, escalation efforts (pathways to accelerate action) are warranted--don't count on "business as usual" to assume it gets done.
We can also be CRITICAL of each other's performance. If we are discerning (analyzing the merits and faults of our work) this can be highly valuable (constructive criticism), but CRITICAL can also mean "expressing adverse or disapproving comments or judgments" (this doesn't feel good and our natural response may be to question whether the criticism is justified).
We are so busy being CRITICAL that we may not recognize when we are discerning well and when we are criticizing poorly. On the receiving end we may not recognize when we are getting constructive criticism (an opportunity to improve) and when we are getting undesired and potentially unwarranted criticism.
Consider taking a "CRITICAL approach to be being CRITICAL about CRITICAL issues" when giving or receiving feedback:
- Separate criticisms of objective factors (behaviors, actions, results) from subjective factors (feelings, motivations, values) -- critique the action, not the actor
- Focus on what matters most, criticizing everything may be too much to communicate - focus on the most fundamental issues
- Distinguish if the criticism is fact or opinion, and define the assumptions behind the criticism
- Recognize we want criticism (it helps us improve) but we need to look up and see the broad view (while we focus on our slipping holds in the steep climb ahead don't forget how far we have come and how much we have accomplished) -- Is the criticism of the moment simply how we learn that next step and not a critique of our overall climb?