Why is it that we all avoid negative feedback? Is it that we crave affirmation? Is it that we are so fragile that we cannot abide any disagreement about an idea or thought or body of work that is our own? I understand that. If you don’t like my idea or my work or my outfit, does that also mean that you dislike me or you dislike my judgment? BUT…what if we turned that concept on its head? What if we actively sought out negative feedback in order to improve? Who does that?
Is it that we have closely associated negative feedback with negativity? Or it is that we associate negative feedback with meanness? Do we, like King Louis XIV and Marie Antoinette, fight to insulate ourselves from all unpleasantness? They are a good example of what can happen if we don’t pay attention to the negative feedback around us.