Suppose a child comes home with a report card with five As and one B. Usually the first thing his parents will say is "Why the B?" What do you think will go through the child’s mind? Did he try for the B? Or should his parents congratulate the child for the B and accept a lower standard? Not at all.
What the child is really looking for acknowledgement and encouragement for the effort in getting the five As. A parent after acknowledging and praising the As, can make clear his expectations of seeing all six As and offer help if needed. If we lower our standards, the chances are pretty good that the performance next time would drop to those expectations.
Similarly at work, an employee does 100 things right and one thing wrong. Guess what the boss picks on.
Acknowledge the positive but don't lower your standards.
假如一个孩子带回家一张五个A，一个B的成绩单，他的父母亲首先通常会这样问：“为什么得了个B？”你认为孩子心里会怎么想？难道他是争取得个B吗？或者父母亲应该祝贺孩子得了个B，并接受这较低的标准吗？根本不是。
孩子真正盼望的是，他因努力而获得的五个A能得到承认和鼓励。父亲或母亲可以在承认和赞扬这些A之后，表明想要看到六个A的愿望，并表示如果需要，可以提供帮助。如果我们降低自己的标准，那么下一次的成绩很可能低于那些期望。
同样，在工作上，一个雇员做了100件正确事而做了一件错事，猜猜老板会挑出哪件事。
承认积极面，但不要降低自己的标准。