AJ Jacobs is a writer who loves living life as an experiment. In one experiment, he decided to be completely transparent for a few weeks and told everyone exactly what he thought, even if it was rude. This led to disastrous consequences and he learned that being brutally honest is not the same as being radically candid. Kim Scott, an executive coach, explains that giving criticism requires thought and tact, rather than blurting out whatever comes to mind.
What if you could tell your co-workers what you really think of them? At one of the world’s most successful hedge funds, everyone is rated and ranked constantly – in front of everyone. They’ve figured out how to embrace negative feedback, and they swear it’s essential to their success. Adam Grant shows how you can learn to take criticism well – and get better at dishing it out.
This is an episode of WorkLife with Adam Grant, another podcast in the TED Audio Collective.
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Find the transcript for this episode at go.ted.com/worklifecriticism