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Why do people try to avoid giving or receiving feedback? No matter which end of it you're on, it's not easy. Possibly damaging relationships, remaining open to criticism-neither is ideal. But the biggest obstacles to constructive feedback are some myths about feedback itself. Contrary to popular belief, defensiveness is okay; mistakes should not be covered up or punished. The whole point of feedback is to continually improve performance, and getting past the myths can help this happen.