Evo ga, u celini, sa uvodnom ilustracijom koju je uz ovaj tekst priredio Oscar Ramos Orozco.
Time and time again, creative people are given
two pieces of advice: (1) Listen to your critics and seek feedback, but
also (2) Ignore your critics and follow your intuition. Clearly, there's
a powerful contradiction here in need of reconciliation.Whether
you're starting a new business, debuting a performance, or working with a
client, you'll find yourself in the hot seat faced with feedback - and
you'll have a decision to make. Do you embrace the criticism and change
what you're doing? Or do you gain confidence from being doubted and take
solace that all innovation is, at first, misunderstood?
Knowing
which feedback to embrace and which to discard is perhaps the most
important instinct for a creative leader to possess. Nearly every
legendary innovation was initially
mocked or misunderstood
by the so-called "experts." In truth, scrutiny and doubt are just part
of the toll we pay to take the path less traveled. But knowing this
doesn't make it any easier.
The question is: When should you embrace your critics and their dogma, and when should you ignore them and carry on?
Savor Criticism, Shun Cynicism
There are two kinds of doubt you'll encounter in any new venture - criticism and cynicism.
Criticism
is doubt informed by curiosity and a deep knowledge of a discipline
related to your work. Whether the criticism you receive is constructive
or not, it comes from knowledge. Informed insights like "I'm not sure
someone would ever pay that much" or "you may not want to outsource that
given the high-touch required" may cause you to question your approach.
By contrast, cynicism is a form of doubt resulting from
ignorance and antiquated ways. Industry experts will often express doubt
based on an ingrained muscle memory of past experiences that handicaps
their vision for the future. Cynical statements like, "People will never
read a book on a computer" or "Why would anyone want to put their
rolodex online?" are famous doubts expressed by experts with handicapped
vision.
Knowing which feedback to embrace and which to discard is perhaps the most important instinct for a creative leader to possess.
Doubts and questions can be valuable, but not when they are akin to
xenophobia. When investors - and the general public - shun something
simply because it is foreign and new... well, this means you are likely
one (or more) steps beyond the status quo, which is a good thing!
Transformational projects and businesses are like puzzles, and it's very
difficult for the masses to see the whole picture when half the pieces
are still missing. In such cases, being mocked or misunderstood suggests
you're onto something.
As entrepreneurs, we must savor criticism
and shun cynicism by developing an instinct for the difference between
thoughtful insights and short-sightedness. This instinct is the
competitive advantage for innovators of all kinds, and it comes straight
from the gut.
Sharpening Your Gut
Is
gut instinct the culmination of years of experience? Is it strengthened
by confidence? How do you sharpen your gut instinct? Here are a few
thoughts:
- Calculate the credibility of everything you hear.
If you're talking to a very experienced leader in another field, assess
whether she is qualified to have an opinion about your project. Perhaps
her perspective should only carry the weight of a potential customer?
(If so, keep in mind that customers can't possibly know what they want
at the bleeding edge of what's next.) But, if she has deep experience in
a similar vertical, her insights should be given more credence. Before
absorbing feedback, determine how credible and applicable it is first.
- Separate fear and emotion from logic. Can you
consider feedback without the taint of ego or the human fears that we
all carry around - namely, failure and embarrassment? I'm not suggesting
that you ignore your fears and emotions. On the contrary, you should
work to identify the root of them. If you find feedback frustrating, ask
yourself why. Often, it means that you are holding onto past
assumptions for the wrong reasons or “sunk costs” (past energy and
resources you invested that you'll never get back). I've met many
entrepreneurs who recognize a fundamental flaw but miss the chance to
fix it because they can't bear to face it.
- Recognize patterns, but don't resort to them. No
doubt, a big part of gut instinct also comes from pattern recognition.
Seeing the same thing happen, time and time again, gives you an instinct
for what might happen next. At the same time, years of experience can
also plague you with the same muscle memory that breeds cynicism in the
first place. The trick is to keep reiterating your thesis for the future
as you process information and compare with past experiences. You
should review every decision through two distinct lenses: your past
lessons learned (often the hard way), and your conviction for what's
next. Sometimes you'll recognize a pattern and realize that it is meant
to be broken.
- Learn to stomach momentary scrutiny. Your gut
instinct won't add any value if you can't handle scrutiny. A barrage of
feedback is, at best, a bounty of useful insight and, at worst, noise.
Whatever you do, don't avoid the critics. Feedback is a win-win
scenario, so long as you develop your gut instinct and let it do its'
thing.
