Stories are how humans understand the world. They're also the primary mechanism by which we get it wrong. The better you are at constructing narratives, the more confidently you'll be misled by them.
Most social consensus is manufactured from private dissent. The people nodding in meetings, agreeing on social media, and following the trends often don't believe what their behavior suggests — and neither do their peers. We are conforming to a consensus that doesn't exist.
Softening feedback feels considerate. Research consistently shows it makes the feedback useless. Most of what we call kindness in professional and personal relationships is self-protection dressed up as generosity.