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Pitsel Power Minute Newsletter (11|07|08)

Anonymous Criticism - Attack of the Timid?

I’m not sure just what to make of this site. www.nicecritic.com was identified in the latest copy of Calgary Inc. as being a site where one can have anonymous criticisms sent to other people. The site has nine categories, and you can select the category and then a specific, gently phrased criticism to send off to the unsuspecting offender. (Although to be fair, there is a category of anonymous praise as well as the 7 other corrective categories. Why anyone would want to provide praise anonymously, however, is beyond me).

The categories include Appearance, Personal Hygiene, Cubicle Critic, Sports Etiquette, General Behaviour, Neighborly Suggestion, Office Behaviour, Thoughts for Schoolmates, and an open category for suggesting other topics.

The one liners contained in the categories include such observations as: Your napping might take away from your professionalism; Stories about your kids are not as interesting as they use to be; Not sharing your candy jar makes you look somewhat unsociable; Your snack crunching is quite distracting; You tend to walk heavily and can be heard from a distance; Remembering to say ‘excuse me’ after natural bodily noises would be greatly appreciated, and You don’t release your hug in a timely manner, are among dozens of other “gently worded”, and exceedingly polite observations.

Well, there goes our workshop on The Art of Giving and Receiving Criticism, I guess. But there may be an unanticipated side to this process of anonymous criticism.

Before the age of technology which has made this type of action possible (before, you were reduced to clipping letters out of a newspaper and gluing them to a piece of paper), you either put up with the obnoxious behaviour, talked to the person directly (which was always risky because the offender could, and often did, tell you get over it, suck it up, princess, or, if more scholarly, suggest that those who were without sin could cast the first stone.), or you complained to the person’s boss but insisted that your name be kept out of it.

"Before you criticize a man, walk a mile in his shoes. That way, when you do criticize him, you'll be a mile away and have his shoes."

— Unknown

The boss then called the offender in, told him or her about the complaint, and when asked who had the problem, indicated that the complainer’s name was confidential. Whereupon the offender smacked his forehead, and loudly exclaimed “Well, gosh. I didn’t realize. Thank you so much for letting me know about this. I’ll change immediately.”

Not likely.

More frequently the person left the boss’s office and spent the next week trying to figure out who the anonymous s.o.b. was who was tattle-tailing to the boss.

Giving criticism is never an easy task to be sure, but I believe the risks of providing this type of information to people anonymously far outweighs the benefits of remaining invisible and safe. There may be times when complaints to authorities with a request to have your identity withheld are warranted (a tyrannical boss, for example, who may retaliate), but the resulting suspicion and paranoia that can result can create a workplace that is far more toxic than one in which some inconsiderate or thoughtless behaviour occurs.

Please feel free to pass this on (not anonymously) to friends and colleagues, but please do include the source.

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