The problem with Sinek’s work is that a for-profit company can have a purpose in addition to money making...but as long as profit is a goal, it will be the super-ordinate goal jealous of any peers. In other words, a non-monetary ‘why’ is never possible as the dominant motive in a capitalist organization, only in an NGO or voluntary association...and even in the latter capitalist motivations often creep in and take over. At best, the ‘why’ is a close second.
Feedback is indeed a crucial aspect of personal and professional growth, and your insights on giving feedback are spot on. I particularly appreciate your emphasis on the importance of having a genuine and positive reason for giving feedback. It's so essential to approach feedback with good intentions and kindness. Thanks for this insightful sharing Martin!
Thank you so much for the recommendation Martin! It means a lot.
And your post comes at a great time for me - as I've been thinking a lot recently about how to give some "not so great" feedback. The intention of speaking for the benefit for the other is a great guiding principle
A feminist rant, for example, may sound angry or off-center to a conservative reader who gets sucked by a topical headline (easy to do these days). Critiquing tone and voice and the degree of assumptions the author made before starting their piece often reflect mis-understanding of the intended audience more than a writing flaw per se. I see this in Amazon reviews a lot, when a book reaches beyond its optimal niche...
Really good point. The breadth of topics and articles on Substack means you can be reading about AI one minute and mental health the next. As you say, the purpose of the writing also varies considerably.
My experience on Substack so far is that this is a significantly nicer place than other platforms we shall not name. In this environment any feedback has been given with the best intentions to help the writer improve.
You just need to be sure that the writer is open to it first.
Can confirm it went positively - I wasn’t initially inclined to give a positive aspect regarding what I needed to discuss but I found something worth bringing up and it really helped. Thank you Martin!
Great advice on feedback. I gave feedback recently and in trying not to make too big a thing about it, I misjudged it. The recipient actually needed me to sit down and explain it all to them, because they had not picked up on the impact of their language when to me it had been a very obvious error which I had assumed they’d realised as soon as the words came out of their mouth. They hadn’t…..
The problem with Sinek’s work is that a for-profit company can have a purpose in addition to money making...but as long as profit is a goal, it will be the super-ordinate goal jealous of any peers. In other words, a non-monetary ‘why’ is never possible as the dominant motive in a capitalist organization, only in an NGO or voluntary association...and even in the latter capitalist motivations often creep in and take over. At best, the ‘why’ is a close second.
Feedback is indeed a crucial aspect of personal and professional growth, and your insights on giving feedback are spot on. I particularly appreciate your emphasis on the importance of having a genuine and positive reason for giving feedback. It's so essential to approach feedback with good intentions and kindness. Thanks for this insightful sharing Martin!
No worries Winston. I really believe the intention is the most important thing.
Sometimes I feel people give feedback in order to exercise power or show off their own knowledge.
Thank you so much for the recommendation Martin! It means a lot.
And your post comes at a great time for me - as I've been thinking a lot recently about how to give some "not so great" feedback. The intention of speaking for the benefit for the other is a great guiding principle
Also, understand the author’s intended audience...it may make some of your feedback moot...
Hi James - please elaborate?
A feminist rant, for example, may sound angry or off-center to a conservative reader who gets sucked by a topical headline (easy to do these days). Critiquing tone and voice and the degree of assumptions the author made before starting their piece often reflect mis-understanding of the intended audience more than a writing flaw per se. I see this in Amazon reviews a lot, when a book reaches beyond its optimal niche...
Really good point. The breadth of topics and articles on Substack means you can be reading about AI one minute and mental health the next. As you say, the purpose of the writing also varies considerably.
My experience on Substack so far is that this is a significantly nicer place than other platforms we shall not name. In this environment any feedback has been given with the best intentions to help the writer improve.
You just need to be sure that the writer is open to it first.
vastly more civilized here...yes...!
Really enjoyed the post. Very sensible advice about feedback and I appreciate how you’re working to build community.
Thanks Andy. It’s early days but hopefully things will grow over time.
Great post Martin and thanks for the mention. Glad to be first on the leaderboard!
Totally! Great work. Reckon you could be the first to 5 referrals? 😎
Thank you so much for the mention!
I’ve got a tricky conversation to have at work. This has helped me decide exactly what to say.
Oh wow, that’s great Jack. So glad it was useful.
Maybe you could drop by here later and let us know how it went?
Good luck for today.
Can do Martin!
Can confirm it went positively - I wasn’t initially inclined to give a positive aspect regarding what I needed to discuss but I found something worth bringing up and it really helped. Thank you Martin!
Thank you so much for the mention. Loved the picture of Cornwall - it is wonderful to walk along the cliff tops. Hope you had a cream tea at the end.
No worries Kate. Not that day but the MooMaid ice cream was incredible!
Great advice on feedback. I gave feedback recently and in trying not to make too big a thing about it, I misjudged it. The recipient actually needed me to sit down and explain it all to them, because they had not picked up on the impact of their language when to me it had been a very obvious error which I had assumed they’d realised as soon as the words came out of their mouth. They hadn’t…..