Score your openness to feedback
Details:
The problem:
Defensiveness in the face of criticism is a double failure. As Adam Grant writes: when you get defensive about feedback, you fail twice because you lose the chance to learn now, and you signal to others that it’s unsafe to be honest with you in the future. The result is silence: people stop telling you the truth.
The principle:
The antidote is to show you’re coachable. That doesn’t mean swallowing every harsh comment without question. It means signalling, in the moment, that you value growth over ego. You can do this by consciously rating how you respond, by modelling your own vulnerability, by separating the critique of work from a critique of self, by expressing gratitude, and by inviting dialogue rather than shutting it down.
Why it works:
Criticism lights up the amygdala, priming the brain for fight-or-flight. A defensive reaction protects pride but blocks learning. Pausing to thank the giver, or asking for examples, activates prefrontal control circuits, lowers reactivity, and shifts the encounter into problem-solving mode. By reframing the comment as “about the work” rather than “about me,” you short-circuit identity threat. Expressing gratitude and curiosity signals psychological safety, which encourages others to keep sharing truths you can’t see yourself.
Why it’s difficult:
Most of us have rehearsed defensiveness for years. The reflex is almost instantaneous - arms folded, voice sharp, counter-attack ready. Re-training requires breaking a loop: instead of reacting to protect status, you must lean into humility. This feels unnatural at first, but coachability is not innate; it is a discipline.
How to try it:
1. After receiving feedback, pause and score yourself: “How well did I take that, 1-10?”
2. Share your own flaws openly before others point them out.
3. Reframe mentally: “This is about my work, not about me.”
4. Say “thank you” as your default first response.
5. Ask one clarifying question to turn feedback into dialogue.
The broader implication:
Growth doesn’t hinge on flawless feedback. It hinges on your willingness to receive it. By showing you can handle the truth without flinching, you invite others to keep telling it - which is how you keep learning what you most need to know.
Sources:
Adam Grant (@adamgrant)
When you get defensive about feedback, you fail twice. You fail to learn today, and you fail to encourage people to keep teaching you tomorrow. If you can't handle the truth, people stop telling you the truth. A key to growth is showing that you're coachable.
Give Effective Feedback – Learner Guide
This learner guide—featuring insights from Adam Grant—explains how to give effective and constructive feedback. It focuses on practical techniques such as delivering feedback with empathy, being specific and actionable, avoiding personal criticism, and encouraging growth-oriented conversations. The guide is designed to help individuals and teams improve communication and performance through better feedback practices.
Adam Grant’s 4 steps to making criticism constructive
This article from World Economic Forum shares psychologist Adam Grant’s practical framework for giving constructive criticism. It explains how feedback can be made more effective by focusing on behavior rather than personality, being specific, showing empathy, and creating a safe environment for improvement. The goal is to turn criticism into a tool for growth rather than discouragement.