Career Catalyst: Giving and Receiving Feed with Ellen Taaffe

“It is not what happens to you, but how you react that matters.” - Epictetus.

The act of giving and receiving feedback is a gracious art form that most fail to master.
Often, intentions of constructive criticism and advice can be muddied with poor word choices
and emotional associations, misconstruing an opportunity for growth as a negative reflection
of one’s person and efforts. 

In academia, we find ourselves as the recipients of critical feedback on a regular basis.
Having the opportunity to learn the ins and outs of receiving feedback for personal and
scientific growth can therefore be a critical experience for any young scientist and a crucial
skill to continuously revisit for seasoned scientists. The CRS community were provided with
just that - the opportunity to work on their feedback skills during our September Career
Catalyst event, "Giving, Getting, and Gaining from Feedback."

Ellen Taaffe, Clinical Assistant Professor of Management & Organizations at
Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management, was the host for this month's
workshop. She led the CRS trainees through a series of group role-playing exercises and
active listening exercises, provoking attendees to think deeply about word choice, extracting
certain types of information, and overall attention to mindfulness. These exercises put into
perspective the nuances of feedback from the facts of the conversation to interpreting what
the give and receiver is contributing to the conversation. Attendees were challenged to better
frame feedback and take into account the context of the receiver, who they are, what they
value, and the situation at hand. Ellen really pushed the attendees to work on giving and
receiving feedback and provided “homework” to assist in the refinement of the skills we
already have and those that we just learned.

Beyond just trainee growth, many senior faculty members and program administrators
also decided to participate in the activities as well; showing that despite whatever stage you
may be in your career, there is always the opportunity to grow and learn. Giving and receiving
feedback should always be seen as an opportunity to grow rather than a confrontation and
we will take revisit these lessons as we all growth in our abilities.