Giving productive creative feedback is a skill. It’s important how you deliver and take feedback when inspiring creativity.
What works for me: Six Thinking Hats is a book by Edward de Bono which describes a tool for group discussion and individual thinking involving six colored hats. “Six Thinking Hats” and the associated idea “parallel thinking” provide a tool for groups to look at concepts from different angles.
The thinking hats provide different lenses for constructive peer feedback on ideas and concepts. When members of the team present ideas or work in progress to the rest of the team, you approach the feedback from the six different perspective of the “thinking hats” all of which are intended to inspire different levels of conversation and collaboration vs. just one line of thinking.
The Big Picture: You have to remember that you are delivering feedback to your friends and you want them to succeed, and vice versa. The idea is that the team is in it together and that a successful project for the company will help everyone.
Be balanced in your comments: Take into consideration at what stage of production the project is at, and what are the time constraints and available technology you have to work with. Balance what is possible to be done at your company with the time you have to do it in.
Be brief: Brevity is necessary in order to maintain the pace of creativity, energy, and flow on a project. Be clear and concise in your comments.
Ask a ton of questions: It’s okay to ask questions, where you are allowed to poke holes in ideas, and it’s ok to fail. The great creators that have existed are the ones that have taken chances and questioned the way things are.
Say ‘Yes and’: To keep the creative ideas flowing it’s important to maintain a positive tone. There’s nothing that kills the energy and creativity in a room quicker than somebody saying ‘no.’”
Bottom line: The goal is to inspire one another and make the idea bigger and better.
