Coaching practices for Critique Structure

Describe almost anything you are working through and IX Coach finds the practices whose real-world fit is closest. For Critique Structure, these are the strongest matches in the current practice library.

Does this sound like the set of challenges you might be facing?

• No matter how carefully I word it, my feedback seems to land as me sitting in judgment over them from above
• I keep wrapping my criticism in compliments the way I was taught to, and it just isn’t working
• When I disagree with someone I go straight for the rebuttal, and even when I’m right it makes them defensive and nothing changes
• My bullet points look tidy on the page but they feel lopsided when I read them aloud
• I get so deep into what I found fascinating in the analysis that I forget the person reading it just needs one decision answered

Practices that may help

1. Establish shared purpose before delivering critique
   Frame critique as help toward a shared goal, not an evaluation from above.
   The Feedback Sandwich: Why It Doesn’t Work and What to Do Instead
2. Understand why the sandwich fails before replacing it
   The sandwich fails because it sends three conflicting signals at once.
   The Feedback Sandwich: Why It Doesn’t Work and What to Do Instead
3. Apply Dennett’s four rules for critical commentary
   Before criticizing: restate charitably, list agreements, name what you’ve learned, then — and only then — rebut.
   Steelmanning
4. Use parallel structure across every level of the pyramid
   Ideas at the same level of the hierarchy should be grammatically and logically parallel.
   The Minto Pyramid Principle
5. Write to the question your reader has in mind, not the question you found interesting
   Start from the reader’s situation and their pressing question — not from your analysis and its conclusions.
   The Minto Pyramid Principle
6. Review and adjust themes quarterly
   Revisit the theme-day assignment every quarter — life and work change, and the structure should follow.
   Theme Days, Made Practical
7. Affirm before receiving critical feedback
   Do a brief values reflection before reading a critical evaluation so you can take in the information rather than defend against it.
   Self-Affirmation Theory, Made Practical
8. Evaluate the argument structure, not the source
   Map the logic and evaluate it independently of who made the argument.
   Argument Mapping
9. Calibrate review depth to your current context
   Match the depth of the weekly review to what the week actually calls for — short when the system is current, deeper when life has been chaotic.
   The GTD Weekly Review
10. Make praise as specific as criticism
    Vague praise is nearly worthless; name exactly what was good and why.
    Radical Candor, Made Practical

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