Criticism vs. Corrective Feedback: What's the Difference?

Whether you call it corrective, developmental, improvement, or negative, the feedback you get about something you could have done better is often hard to take. Ideally, it's meant to help you perform better in the future, but some leaders and managers (and spouses and teachers) think they're giving corrective feedback when they're actually criticizing the other person.

I don't know about you, but I can feel the difference, even if I can't pinpoint exactly how it's different. So I thought it might be helpful to look at where feedback and criticism overlap and diverge.

Purpose

The purpose of corrective feedback is to improve performance or behavior. You see an opportunity to correct a mistake (or provide another option) and share your perspective. The purpose of criticism, though, is to vent your frustration or dissatisfaction. It's essentially a judgment of the behavior, and a negative one at that.

• To deliver feedback and not criticism, focus on what you observed, not how you feel about it. (e.g., "Your report was late again" vs "This was due two hours ago - what am I supposed to do with it now?")

  
  

Focus

Corrective feedback focuses on observable behaviors, actions, or results -- what happened, and what needs to change. Criticism, on the other hand, focuses on YOU -- your character, personality, or other labels.

• To deliver feedback and not criticism, focus on behavior that can change, not your interpretation of why that behavior happened. (e.g., "Your report was late again" vs "You can't get a report in on time to save your life.")

Tone

If you want your feedback to be received, you have to deliver it in a neutral, respectful, or collaborative way. When your tone starts to get emotional, charged, or judgy, you're slipping into criticism. For most people, tone of voice is fairly automatic - you have to intentionally change it to make a difference (and even then, people often hear the message underneath). So if you're feeling judgmental or angry about what happened, give it some time before you deliver the feedback and make sure you can be neutral about what you're saying.

• To deliver feedback and not criticism, be cool and collected, and focus on making things better rather than making people feel bad. (e.g., "Your report was late" vs "UGH! YOUR REPORT WAS LATE!")

Timing

Useful feedback is delivered as close to the behavior as possible (after taking whatever time you need to cool down). Criticism is often a result of a festering issue - it's more reactive and blurty. The more often and effectively you give corrective feedback, the less likely you are to have something to be reactive towards.

• To deliver feedback and not criticism, address the small things, even if they don't feel like a big deal. It's easier to fix something when it's little than it is when it's overwhelming. (e.g., "Your shoes are in the living room again" vs "This relationship is over!")*

Orientation

Helpful feedback looks forward to what you could or should do differently next time if you want to get a better result. Criticism, however, is almost always about looking backwards and blaming the other person for what went wrong.

• To deliver feedback and not criticism, think about how you want things to look in the future and release what you can't change, which is what has already happened in the past. (e.g., "Next time, please email me your report by 2 pm" vs "I was waiting like an idiot for two hours without your report.")

Ownership

Good feedback often includes a shared responsibility or support for making a change in the future. Done really well, the deliverer acknowledges their role in why the performance hasn't changed. But criticism is all about disavowing ownership and casting blame anywhere (and everywhere) but on the giver.

• To deliver feedback and not criticism, own your role in the situation, and how you are available to help going forward. (e.g., "I've noticed your reports have been late recently, and I haven't said anything before, but it's becoming a problem. What help do you need to get them in on time?" vs "Your late reports are screwing things up for everybody.")

Impact

When delivered well, corrective feedback builds clarity, learning, and trust. The recipients know you've got their back and you're rooting for them in the future. Even when it hurts to hear what's shared, good corrective feedback highlights how to be more successful next time. Criticism's impact is defensiveness, shame, and shutdown. The intended message rarely lands because it has too much emotion and fear to travel through to get there.

• To deliver feedback and not criticism, make sure your heart is in the right place. Do you believe they can do it differently? Or are you masking your frustration and impatience and pretending to be supportive? (e.g., "I want to help you make sure to deliver your reports more quickly because it will be better for your career in the long run" vs "You need to stop being so lazy and then you'll be able to get your reports in on time."

The main difference?

• Corrective feedback says: “This behavior didn’t work, here’s how to adjust.”

• Criticism says: “You are the problem.”

Want more tips on feedback? Check out these other helpful posts!

*I don't know anyone who has ever said this before ever.