Bring Me Another Rock

There is an old story about a worker who keeps bringing a rock to a supervisor.

Each time, the supervisor looks at it, shakes his head, and says, “Bring me another rock.”

Back the worker goes. No explanation. No criteria. No explanation of what the right rock would be.

Exhibition projects can work this way. A stakeholder says something like:

> “It’s not quite there.”
> “Can we try another version?”
> “I’ll know it when I see it.”

This is ambiguous feedback. That’s feedback without actionable direction.

The problem with ambiguous feedback isn’t the disagreement. The problem is the missing criteria.

If it keeps happening, teams can enter endless revision loops. Schedules can slip. Budgets can grow. Morale can drop. Designers start guessing.

Often, the person giving the feedback can sense a real problem. They just aren’t describing it. When that happens, a designer should respond with clarifying questions like:

> “What exactly isn’t working yet?”
> “Which of your goals for this isn’t getting met?”
> “What would success look like instead?”

Because the person does sense a real problem, follow-up questions can help tease out more actionable details.

Here’s the thing:

Clear feedback reduces uncertainty.

Ambiguous feedback multiplies it.

Following up with clarifying questions can help.

Warmly,
Jonathan

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MtM Word of the Day:
Duotone. A printing technique that uses only two ink colors. In exhibitions, this is often used to make black and white historic photos more colorful by replacing the black, the white, or both with another color.