When asking for feedback, there is always the possibility that the other person doesn’t like the work we did and be explicit about it.

Open questions allow for such feedback as well as praise or new insights. They also mean that the person asked for feedback has a more challenging task to determine his own answer.

Presenting one’s work with the possibility to choose between options transforms the request for feedback into a closed question. The person asked thus is invited to choose between these two and stay within the limits of the feedback asked for. It reduces the number of additional ideas and information the person will receive and can be a means to ensure to always receive confirmation or positive feedback as there will always be one part of one’s work which will have been validated.

Both options can create space for useful feedback as the requested feedback serves a different purpose.

But when the context is learning, the broad question can open doors to enhance the learning. Whereas the closed question asking for choice will restrict the learning to the given.

Seeking validation and vulnerability exclude one another when asking for feedback.