I was looking in the archives this morning, to see what I wrote about on this date in the past. By some strange twist, my articles on 4th July in both 2010 and 2011 were about criticism. Not criticism aimed at anyone or anything in particular, but in terms of general principles. It’s hard to express criticism, because most people worry about offending or upsetting others – which is why, I suppose, cowards always do so anonymously. Perhaps it is even harder to be self-critical in a rational way, by which I mean neither denying that there is no room for improvement nor deciding that one is beyond help.

Feedback is important! Photo by xdxd_vs_xdxd -- http://www.flickr.com/photos/xdxd_vs_xdxd/

In Benchmarking and Customer Satisfaction, published in 2010, I discuss what to put into a customer satisfaction survey if you deliver ICT support services, and why you should conduct one in the first place. I think the suggestions still stand, and that they could be applied to other aspects of ICT management as well.

In 25 ways to make yourself unpopular: #22 Don’t tell it how it is, from 2011, I talk about why it’s important to point out where improvements could be made in the context of ICT – although I think, as with the other article mentioned, the principles can be applied generally.

I’m not sure if it’s a good thing or not that things I wrote about 2 and 3 years ago are still apposite! Anyway, I hope you enjoy reading these “blasts from the past”!