Having the authority to critique is not the same as having the credibility to critique. Organizations that confuse the two create creative environments where work is optimized for approval rather than quality.
Authority is positional. It derives from organizational hierarchy. Credibility is earned. It comes from demonstrated expertise, from a track record of sound creative judgment, from the ability to articulate not just what is not working but why — and what would work better. Credible critique elevates the work. Authoritative critique without credibility suppresses it.
When a creative team learns that approval is the primary metric rather than quality, they stop taking risks. They produce work that is safe enough to survive the approval process rather than ambitious enough to move the market. The ceiling on creative quality is set not by the talent in the room but by the credibility of the feedback system.