The Difference Between Criticism & Input
“That’s enough Lieutenant Anderson!”
I sat down and stayed quiet for the rest of my battalion commander’s weekly meeting. I saw the smirk on our operations officer’s face. As I walked out of the room later, a friendly captain patted me on the back, shook his head and told me not to give up.
I would often be the only lieutenant in these meetings full of higher ranking officers. I was there to fill in for my boss.
Half the time I would throw out a challenge, the Colonel would say “Why am I only hearing this from a LT. Why didn’t one of you Captains or Majors bring this up.” The other half of the time I was shut down quickly.
My father, a retired General and a Vietnam veteran always told me, “Take care of your soldiers and they will take care of you.” That was always my goal. But, it did not always go over well.
At first I thought it was because I did not “play the game”. I was not politically savvy. I just wanted to do what was right for my soldiers. As a result, I challenged a decision if I thought it was not in the best interest of the men.
I didn’t just complain. I brought solutions to the table. I used to think that as long as I brought solutions, my comments were helpful.
It was not until I left the Army and looked back at those meetings that I understood why my commander’s reactions would be so different on different days.
Timing- The Difference Between Criticism and Input
Input occurs before the decision has been made. Criticism occurs afterwards.
As a young, overly confident 25 year old lieutenant, I was not wise enough to understand that the timing of my remarks made a big difference.
If a decision is still being discussed, as a leader, no matter what my rank, I should speak up and offer solutions to improve the outcomes.
But if the decision is made, all I am doing with those exact same comments, is throwing sand in the gears and slowing down progress.
I may not agree with the decision, but it is my responsibility at that point to implement the strategies that come from above, to the best of my abilities. Unless…
Never Stay Quiet When It Is A Moral or Legal Issue
Timing does not matter when a leader is dealing with a moral or legal issue. If a decision is immoral or if it is unlawful every leader has a Duty to speak up. This takes Courage if I am a lower ranking leader. But my rank does not relieve me of my responsibility to speak up. Leaders lead. Period. That is our Duty.
The Bottom Line:
The lessons I learned as a young officer in the Army prepared me for the business world. I am still not into the politics of the office. I still speak up. But I know that the timing of my comments is important.
Timing is often the only difference between what is seen as valuable input and what is seen as criticism. I will always argue for a better way if the decision has not been made yet. But, once it is made, it is time for me to follow.
If I decide to continue to speak out after the decision, I must be sure I am not fighting just because I have a different opinion. That is not good enough.
After a decision is made, I have a Duty to fight for moral and legal issues. Otherwise, my Duty becomes to support the decision made by my leaders.
Question:
Are you in the habit of doing your Duty and speaking up at the right time?
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Very enlightening for me. Opinions are important for discussions. To be more effective, timing can help to make it. Input and criticism can be defined in this case of decision making. But for general discussions, sometimes it is hard to differentiate them. In some cases, criticism can be input if you take it from a different angle.
Great points Johanna. I believe that criticism without offering solutions has little benefit in a decision making setting. When we don’t offer solutions, criticism can often be a cop out. I shouldn’t just say something won’t work. I should offer an alternative. That shows more thought than just stopping at criticism.
Timing of inputs and the way the inputs are given play a big part in the receiver’s interpretation. Experience is gained over time. So if a decision was made but not implimented, I feel you still have time to change the decision through inputs from experience / information discovered. It does however upset some people if decisions were changed after they were made, so implimentation of ‘change’ is very important and that it is not being made due to critisism.
I agree. Decisions mad but changed later can cause turmoil it the change of direction is not communicated well. Why did it change? People need to understand that to buy in to the new direction.
I had to snicker as I read this, Dave. I was that same 1LT in battalion staff representing my absent commander for many of the same meetings.It was more obvious when I returned from Desert Storm–one of only two officers who had deployed from my battalion–and encountered CPTs on battalion staff who now had, in some ways, less experience than I did.
I didn’t learn very quickly either that my input in staff was more disruptive than helpful. The battalion XO called me on it, and I found a more effective means of taking my input (even after a decision was made) through him or the battalion S3.
I can agree that once a decision is made it was my task to execute. Something I’ve added to my thought process in civilian life is the mantra that my boss in California held: We Don’t Do Stupid. The orders may not be immoral or unlawful, but if they are under-considered, I still feel it’s my job to provide additional input to guide to an alternative. Sometimes the change in direction is not difficult or drastic, but can result in more optimal results.
Taking care of my troops sometimes requires me to offer those alternatives that may not have been considered in the decision. I’d rather do so in the decision-making process, but may not have that opportunity.
DAB
We don’t do stupid! I love that.
Sometimes you need to keep fighting. Other times you need to follow. Knowing when to stop fighting and when to start following is a sign of maturity.
So says the guys who just returned from their 25th reunion…