Supportive vs. critical feedback

I find that many businesspeople are frustrated with the complexity of developing great employees. They’d love to find a quick and easy solution to giving each person exactly what he or she needs.

Here’s something that might be quite helpful.

In 2011, the Journal of Consumer Research published a study titled, “Tell me what I did wrong: Experts seek and respond to negative feedback,” by Stacey R. Finkelstein and Ayelet Fishbach.

This research concluded that the most useful form of feedback directly relates to where the person is on their own learning curve. A novice benefits more from positive and supportive feedback, while…