A trusted colleague recently asked me for some feedback on their work. I gave them some honest feedback, including a strong suggestion they make some changes since there was a strong potential for offence. Surprisingly, they chose not to take my recommendation and never explained why they disregarded it or helped me to better understand the underlying context.
Although I’m not offended, I’d be lying if I said that I wasn’t a little bit upset. Reflecting on this situation, I reminded myself about one golden rule about giving feedback… you need to be prepared for your feedback not to be accepted.
It’s the reverse of the what I find myself saying when giving advice on receiving feedback… it is okay to disagree with feedback someone gives you.
