Standards aren’t strictness. They’re telling people what good looks like before they get blamed for missing it.

Being held to something you were never shown feels arbitrary, and it is. Most of what gets called strictness is really a timing problem: the expectation only became visible at the moment somebody fell short of it. Describing good work in advance is the kind thing to do as well as the effective one, because then anybody who cares has a target. The unfairness sits in the surprise, not in the bar.

Before the next task, say plainly what a good version looks like, with an example if you have one. Ask whether any of it is unclear. Save your corrections for things you actually named beforehand.