Feedback Strategies

I read Five Reasons to Stop Saying Good Job and it really enlightened me. Since my nephew was born we would tell him good job for everything he did, no matter what. It always made him smiled and he knew it was a positive reinforcement. Now that he is older, I can tell that some of the things in this article were true. He relies on positive feedback from people even when he is in the wrong. He relies on being this idea of 'good' we have reinforced into him since he was just a baby. It is weird to see how this reinforcement works but it is all so strange.

I also read How to Give Feedback Without Sounding Like a Jerk. The title of it made me laugh, but it is so true. Whenever you give any type of feedback and it is not positive, they think you are out to get them. They explain in this article very nicely on how to deliver the notes you have without upsetting the other party. It is a nice refresher on etiquette and knowing how to not ruin a relationship with someone else by hurting their feelings.

( photo by me) 

Because instead of saying good job, we just give out cookies.