Accepting Constructive Criticism
Learning not to be offended when someone disagrees with your ideas
Why do some people have a hard time accepting constructive criticism? Because we become emotionally invested in our ideas and experience discomfort when someone challenges our point-of-view.
Giving birth to new ideas is a challenging process that takes time and energy. When you devote hours to creating work, and then the final product is not positively received by another person, your first initial reaction may be to take offense, instead of considering what the other person has to say on the other side of the table.
When I was an architecture student, I had a college classmate who always got upset when a professor criticized his work. During our design reviews, my classmate would stand in front of the class red-hot like he wanted to punch a hole in the wall as my architecture professor ripped into his work. This particular professor did this with every student and was brutally honest with his opinions. He did not hold back, even if he liked your work. Our professor would interrogate you and ask you to explain the reasoning behind every design choice in your project, down to the smallest detail.
Even though I didn’t particularly appreciate my instructor putting me on the spot in front of everyone, the design reviews always encouraged me to rethink my position on my work. Under this kind of pressure, I learned how to engage in critical discussions about design and challenge myself to consider a different perspective. These moments allowed me to grow as a designer and develop inter-personal communication skills for receiving constructive criticism.
However, my classmate could not handle the critiques. He was sensitive to his work being reviewed and dissected by others.
I remember one of our design review sessions going entirely off the rails to the point where my classmate had to leave class. He got into a heated exchange with our instructor. Arguing back and forth, he defended his work in front of everyone, until my instructor dismissed him from class because he was disruptive. It was one of the most intense situations in my college experience, but it taught me early on in my design education to not take offense to what someone is saying about my work.
Even though you may disagree with the comments or feedback, we all have the power and authority to decide if we want to validate the criticism presented to us. We have the option to take it or leave it. We can absorb the feedback as a learning moment, or consider it for another time.
In my professional work, I have normalized the phrase “I’ll take this into consideration” whenever I work with my colleagues on design revisions. While I may disagree with a particular opinion in the room, I always open myself to suggestions and do not get offended when someone does not like my ideas. I listen and consider all perspectives.
Receiving criticism doesn’t have to be an uncomfortable process. When we master the art of accepting criticism, we can all improve ourselves in the work we do as designers and creators.
