"It is not advisable, James, to venture unsolicited opinions. You should spare yourself the embarrassing discovery of their exact value to your listener." from Atlas Shrugged.
Some of the best feedback in an organization that I have seen is of the fearless variety - open dialogue where both the sender and receiver walk away respected and fulfilled; feedback of this type can be both positive and negative, and always timely.
Too often, however, there can be the propensity within and outside an organization for their to be unsolicited feedback in the form of complaining, whining and nitpicking. This type of feedback is often driven by mood, negativity, and never seems to focus on the bigger issues of developing people to be the best they can be.
To focus yourself on giving a better effort in your feedback...
When someone or someplace has wronged you, make no mention of it to anyone. When someone has done right by you, mention it to everyone. Because you see, when it's wrong, there's no point in giving publicity to those who disappoint you, and when it's right, it's the publicity that turns the little heroes in this world into the icons they are destined to be.
Working with those who aren't performing in ways that focus on rewards vs punishment can make the difference between losing someone who may be just having a bad day and developing someone into the kind of person you want to be in your presence for many times to come.
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