I recently talked about the danger of trying to add too much value. Recently while reading The Inner Game of Tennis, I came across this passage (emphasis mine):
I was beginning to learn what all good pros and students of tennis must learn: that images are better than words, showing better than telling, too much instruction worse than none, and that trying too hard often produces negative results.
W. Timothy Gallwey; the Inner Game of Tennis
I am a firm believer in providing and receiving feedback. In many environments I think people don’t get or give enough. But I do think that, in some organizational cultures or with some people, the pendulum can swing too far in the other direction. The art lies in knowing how to strike the right balance.