In the film ‘The Motorcycle Diaries’ Ernesto ‘Che’ Guevara and his companion Alberto Ganado stay for a few days in Lima, Peru before going on to do their internship in a leper colony on the Amazon River. The doctor they stayed with gave them a copy of the manuscript for a novel he’d written. Upon departure for the leper colony, the doctor asked the two travelers what they thought of his book. Alberto looks somewhat embarrassed and says it was kind of interesting. ‘Che’, however, doesn’t hold back. He very politely tells the doctor it was rather boring, the plot was a bit predictable and the characters weren’t very well-developed. At first the doctor is somewhat hurt. Then he thanks the young Guevara and tells him that is the first honest appraisal he has received of his work.What do we learn from this story? Well if you’ve done some work and asked for feedback, most people will be like Alberto. That is they won’t give you an honest opinion. They will say it’s OK and avoid any criticism. People are rarely as direct as ‘Che’ was in this situation. So, when getting criticism, you need to encourage people to be more like ‘Che’. The best way to do that is to get them to tell you what’s wrong with the work. It will feel a bit painful at first- nobody likes being on the receiving end of criticism. However, it’s a good way of finding out what you need to do to improve you work.Receive the criticism genuinely. Avoid being defensive. Show your appreciation by following some of the advice. Finally, let the person know they have made a difference by giving you an honest opinion.