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Feedback Loops: E-D-I-T, Patrick Barry Jan 2023

Feedback Loops: E-D-I-T, Patrick Barry

Articles

The Keep/Cut Framework we learned about back in the December 2022 Feedback Loops column is, admittedly, a bit of a blunt feedback instrument. When the only feedback you can give is “Keep” or “Cut,” there’s not a ton of room for nuance or gradation. Your comments are restricted to either endorsing what already exists or pushing for something to be removed. hat’s a pretty limited menu.

So in both this column and in the June 2023 column, we’re going to learn about a feedback framework that creates opportunities for a greater range of opinions and recommendations: “E-D-I-T.”


Feedback Loops: E-D-I-T (Continued), Patrick Barry Jan 2023

Feedback Loops: E-D-I-T (Continued), Patrick Barry

Articles

In the "Feedback Loops" column back in March, we introduced the "E-D-I-T" framework:

  • Find something to Eliminate
  • Find something to Decrease
  • Find something to Increase
  • Find something to Try

This new column will discuss each category more in depth.


Feedback Loops: Keep/Cut, Patrick Barry Jan 2022

Feedback Loops: Keep/Cut, Patrick Barry

Articles

In the first of installment of this new column on feedback in the September Illinois Bar Journal, we began to address the pernicious problem of vague feedback—that unhelpful, empty-calories form of (non) guidance that deprives people of learning what they’re currently doing well and what they need to ix. Without concrete, explicit guidance, it can be really tough to grow and improve.


Anticipatory Edits, Patrick Barry Jan 2022

Anticipatory Edits, Patrick Barry

Articles

Good writing, I often tell my students, is “anticipating the edits of your boss.” I then clarify that the definition of “boss” in that statement is intentionally expansive. A supervisor at work can count. A teacher in school can count. So can a valued customer or client. he key is to start thinking about two things: 1) the actual people who are going to review your writing; and 2) the likely changes they’ll make to it. By implementing those changes yourself— before the document ever hits your boss’s desk or inbox—you can save them a lot of time and cognitive …