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by Joshua A. Taton, Ph.D. | November 13, 2023 | 1 min read

Chris Donnelly, a coach for startups, offers a compelling "cheat sheet" for leaders on how to give feedback. Many of these are research-based for effectiveness. See a screenshot of the cheat sheet below and a link to Chris's work.

Chris's cheat sheet helped me remember that a traditional mode of giving feedback is known as the "compliment sandwich." Constructive criticism is offered in the middle of two compliments, so that the sequence goes: "compliment-criticism-compliment."

I've read somewhere that a more effective version of the compliment sandwich operates more like a waterfall. The constructive criticism should conclude after a waterfall of three or more compliments.

The sequence, in doing so, would be: "compliment-compliment-compliment-compliment-criticism." Of course, the compliments should be authentic and specific and offered in a heartfelt way.

And the criticism, I would argue, should be actionable and on the same scale—roughly the same "magnitude" or level of importance—as the compliments.

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See Chris's LinkedIn post on feedback here.