Recently had to review work created by others. Bad quality, my first reaction was to harshly critique their work. That is what Steve Jobs (according to his bio) would have done - insulting and hurting his people by telling them that their work was rubbish, but pushing (some of) them to higher performance by doing so.
But I neither have the chairman position of Steve nor the ego; I know that my colleagues would take my critique very badly, blame me for not being a team player and refuse cooperation in the end. So? I respond in a politically correct way, knowing that the results will continue to be mediocre in the future. Maybe Steve was right, but can I afford to be an asshole all the time?