The Feedback Conundrum

There's an old saying that we hear what we want to hear and ignore the rest.

It's a saying with a grain of truth. And it has to do with the way we communicate. In the office. With our loved ones. How we form an identity of ourselves.

It has to do with feedback. How we hear criticism, or instruction, from other people, and how we process it.

When we receive feedback it sets of a clash between two powerful human desires: one the one hand, the need to grow and improve; and on the other, the need to be accepted for how you are.

They will speak about their book at the Brattle Theatre on March 4, 2014.

Douglas Stone, lecturer at Harvard Law School's Program on Negotiation and co-founders of Triad Consulting. Co-author of the new book "Thanks For The Feedback: The Science And Art of Receiving Feedback Well."

Sheila Heen, lecturer at Harvard Law School's Program on Negotiation and co-founders of Triad Consulting. Co-author of the new book "Thanks For The Feedback: The Science And Art of Receiving Feedback Well."