Welcome to Dear HBR from Harvard Business Review.

I'm Dan McGinn.

And I'm Alison Beard.

Work can be frustrating, but it doesn't have to be.

The truth is that we don't have to let the tension, conflicts, and misunderstandings get us down.

We can do something about them. That's where Dear HBR comes in. We take your questions about workplace dilemmas,

and with the help of experts and insights from academic research, we help you move forward.

Today we're talking about performance reviews with Adam Grant, an organizational psychologist

at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. He's also the host of the podcast,

Work Life. Adam, thanks so much for joining us. Thanks for having me.

So, Adam, have you ever had a particularly memorable performance review of your own?

Oh, I definitely have.

I feel like the six years I spent as a springboard diver, basically every moment was a performance review.

I'll never forget.

I had an incredible coach, Eric Best.

One day, I just felt like I was on.

You know, I had the timing right. I feel like I have this

really smooth rotation and I come out and hands together, this very clean entry. And I can just

feel there's no splash. And I come out of the water. And Eric looks at me and he says, Adam, that was bad.

You know, he had a list of about nine things that I did really poorly.

I can't see myself objectively, right?

Because I'm flipping and twisting in the air.

...