Unsolicited advice is as appealing as five-alarm chili in July. And vice versa: Making vague requests for feedback isn’t going to get you groundbreaking guidance either. Both are giving mother-in-law-before-the-wedding vibes—not the critique you’re looking for.

But tactical, practical feedback is one of the best ways to boost your career.

• It helps you hone your skills, enables you to step out of your comfort zone, and alerts you when you’re veering off course.

The ball’s in your court to get the good stuff, though. Here are a few crucial questions to ask a mentor, a respected teammate, or even a work nemesis to make sure you’re getting quality feedback.

When you’re looking to improve after a specific event: “What’s one thing I could have done better?” or “What’s one thing we could do to improve that [event, pitch, etc.] next time?”

When you could use a unique perspective: “What’s one thing you’d do differently if you were in my shoes?”

When you’ve identified a skill or quality you want to get better at: “What are two ways I can practice this skill/quality in a low-stakes way?”

When you’re looking for ways to become a better teammate: “What’s something I can do this week to make it easier for you to work with me?”

And make sure to read the room and ask these questions when there’s time and space for someone to actually give a thoughtful response. Otherwise you’re back at square one.—CS

Dive deeper: Want to take this feedback train one stop further? Read Kim Scott’s Radical Candor to bring long-term niceness but short-term frankness into your next feedback convo.

Last week, we got one step closer to the cable TV of yore: Warner Bros. Discovery is taking its streaming services HBO Max and discovery+ and merging them into an all-in-one platform called Max. It’s a massive attempt to blend family-friendly programming like Fixer Upper and corporate boardroom peeing-on-the-floor scenes.

The jury’s still out on whether this is a smart move or a shortsighted pivot that unnecessarily trashes the strong brand recognition that comes with HBO. But hindsight is 20/20 and sometimes businesses need to make big changes to stay afloat. Here’s the good, the bad, and the ugly when it comes to disrupting your own biz model.

Netflix introducing streaming. Despite the excitement when you mailed back your Blades of Glory DVD and waited three days for Superbad to arrive, Netflix introduced its streaming platform in 2007 and backed away from its popular DVD-by-mail model. While there was public outcry initially, the decision clearly was the right one.

Going with New Coke. Sweeter is not always better. In the mid-’80s, Coke decided to scrap its original flavor and go all in on “New Coke.” But thanks to major opposition (including 40,000 letters of outrage), the company backtracked within months. Just goes to show that after nearly a century of people sharing a Coke, it’s best to let sleeping polar bears lie.

Hello, my name is Meta. Remember two years ago when Mark Zuckerberg announced his company was pivoting to the virtual universe? While technically there’s still time for Zuck to take over the metaverse, it seems reasonable to call out “the company formerly known as Facebook” for this strategic pivot, especially since society is still collectively choosing that title over “Meta.”

Being innovative is hard for everyone, but it’s especially dicey for established companies stuck between FOMO and a lot to lose. Add in a few psychologically suspenseful moments, and you’ve got yourself this summer’s hit show, streaming only on Max.

…they’ll want to give you a raise, and then they’ll want to give you a promotion, and then, if you’re not careful, they’ll give you a corner office.

Crafting narratives through data is a surefire way to accelerate your career—especially if you’re not typically a “numbers” person.

In the Brew’s one-week virtual course Data Storytelling, you’ll gain the analytical skills to create data dashboards that tell the complete story of your team, your business, or even yourself.

The course starts next Monday, so sign up today.

From showing up to a formal work event in jeans to having spinach in your teeth during a client meeting, sometimes work emergencies happen. For that, we offer you the work first aid kit. Save your Band-Aids and tweezers for your dopp kit—here’s what you should always have stocked in your desk’s top drawer:

Hydration powders for when you overdid it at team happy hour the night before

Stress balls for when you email a client using the wrong name

Caffeinated energy bars for when you’ve got to redo your slides after hours

A reusable bag for when you want to cosplay as a responsible adult and stop by the organic market on your commute home

A small gift like a candle for when you forget it’s the intern’s last day

And, of course, it wouldn’t be a work first aid kit without a Tide pen for when you accidentally spill balsamic vinaigrette on your new pants.

Work Hacks is where we ask industry experts about the best tools and frameworks for simplifying the inefficient or boring things we all end up doing at the office.

Elizabeth Glock lives in Denver, CO, where she’s head of operations at Stryx and a member of the Alumni of Learning Brew Advisory Board. Here’s her No. 1 work hack right now:

“When you’re stuck between writing a lengthy Slack message and setting up a meeting to discuss, leave a voice note instead.

• Use the microphone icon below the message box on Slack to pass audio clips back and forth. (There’s even an automated transcript.)
• It eliminates the need for coordinating schedules to set up a meeting, plus it saves you time that you’d otherwise spend drafting.

To decide between a meeting vs. voice note, I ask myself, ‘Does this really require a live discussion, or do I just need to verbalize my opinions, comments, or next steps?’

If you hate meetings that are actually just five-minute status updates, voice notes are your new class act.”