As someone working in a creative environment I get to observe the effect that positive and negative feedback – from clients and from other colleagues – have on a creative individual. Whilst commonly we are taught that constructive feedback works best, this may not always ring true in an environment where you may want to nurture your creatives and see them develop, rather than see them wilt and get disenchanted.
Recently I have been reading about Jay O’Callahan, and his workshops. Jay O’Callahan, described as “a genius among storytellers” by Time, has been telling stories around the world for almost 30 years. He travels around the world sharing his stories, whilst also running workshops (to help aspiring storytellers to hone their craft) which could be applied to any creative developing their art.
Jay talks about appreciation and the impact that it can have on improving one’s craft. The concept, that I found deeply resonated with me, is as follows: Having given a presentation, idea, or a story, the creator would go around asking people to comment on the elements they appreciate most. Upon hearing about the positive elements the creator is likely to emphasize those components more in the future (and therefore de-stress the elements that are not appreciated also).
Constructive feedback may not be the most effective way to help people improve, be it a particular piece of work or the artist’s general style and skills. Positive feedback, that points out elements that you appreciated the most, helps the creator to concentrate on those aspects and further motivate them to create better work in the future.
