Constructive criticism, and a lack thereof.

I had two conversations this weekend, on much the same thing. It’s amazing how two different strings of dialogue can go in such different ways with different people. I’ll paraphrase my experiences of them here, as I think it’ll make a valid point on how to approach people when criticising their work…

Conversation 1:

Them: I read your work, David, and it’s crap.
Me (Taken rather by surprise): Er, gosh, what didn’t you like about it?
Them: Well, what’s to like? It’s all crap.
Me: Okay, you don’t like it. What parts of it need work?
Them: All of it. The best thing you could do is highlight, delete all, and start again.
Me: Right. I understand that you don’t like it. Assume that I’m not deliberately submitting second-rate work, and could you give me specifics? It’s difficult to take criticism when it isn’t constructive.
Them: I read it all, judged each part on its merits, and I’ve come to the logical conclusion that it’s all crap.

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No rise for me.

I turned down the new job; they weren't offering me enough moolah.

I think that surprised them somewhat.