What's good constructive criticism?

Jason Cohen over at Smart Bear has a great article on what differentiates constructive criticism from bad business advice.

As a manager at Macadamian I am often asked my opinion on many subjects, from straight project management, to leadership and people management, to personal matters of some of the people that work with me. Jason's blog post makes some great points on how to recognize great constructive criticism, so it only makes sense that take some of those points and apply them when giving advice or constructive criticism.

I agree that often people seeking advice know what they need to do, they just don't necessarily know that they know, and asking pointed questions can often guide the person to the answer they are looking for.

Oh, and I will try to never ever say "because that's they way it was always done".