How to Handle Critics Of Your Work
Nov 17, 2019Listen To This Podcast
Summary
Feedback about your work is helpful…sometimes. Sometimes at work people make the mistake of assigning importance to all feedback equally, although this might not be the greatest idea. Some feedback, and some criticism of your work, may be more useful than others. A lot of it may not be useful at all.
For example, in 1958 high school student Robert Heft of Lancaster, OH submitted his design for a 50-star American flag to his history teacher for a class project. Robert had heard that Alaska was on the verge of being admitted to the Union, and would be followed closely by Hawaii, such that the then current 48-star flag would need to be updated. However, when Robert submitted his assignment, his teacher thought the work was bad and gave him a grade of a B-.
At the time Robert felt like his work deserved a better grade, and his teacher’s criticism of his work was, well, bull. So over the next two years he called and wrote different parts of the government until, in 1960, Robert Heft received a call from President Eisenhower inviting him to attend the first raising of the new American flag – based on Robert’s design – over the U.S. Capitol.
Afterward, Robert went back to his teacher who admitted that they had been mistaken, and revised Robert’s grade to an A.
The work you do and the impact you have represents the legacy of your life on this earth. If and when you do work that you think is good, that you believe in, that you’re proud of – don’t ever, ever, ever let naysayers dissuade you from what you’ve set out to do. Such naysayers may bring criticism for any number of reasons that have nothing to do with you. Critics may attack your work because they’re jealous, or ignorant, or fearful…or they could just be plain mean. Moreover, it’s sometimes that case that when critics come after your work, that the work you’ve done isn’t meant for those critics. Especially when you receive unsolicited feedback from people your work isn’t even for, you should give yourself lots of license to ignore them.
The work you do is your art. Often the best art, and I would argue – work, has lots of critics. In turn, the best artists continue with their work in spite of those critics, or even because of those critics. Let criticism of your work fuel your motivation to keep doing it!
When you do work that matters, that you know will have a positive impact on the world – stay the course. Because, if you do, it will help you win at work.
Full Transcript
Do you know who created the first American flag?
If you said Betsy Ross, according to legend, you’d be right. But do you know who created the flag we have now? Probably not. It was a guy named Robert Heft.
Robert Heft was a high school student in Lancaster, OH in 1958. For a project for his history class he turned in a 50-star flag. At that time the American flag only had 48 stars. But Robert had heard that Alaska would soon join the union, and Hawaii would follow shortly behind. So, he knew the United States would need a 50-star flag.
On his own initiative he put a 50 star flag together and turned that in as his history project. His teacher was not impressed. His teacher said, “What is this flag? It’s got too many stars!” and gave Robert a B -.
Meanwhile, a classmate of Robert found 5 leaves off the ground and taped them into a notebook, and that kid received an A. Robert didn’t like the grade he received, and he thought it wasn’t right. Despite his teacher’s criticism, he thought, “You know what? This just isn’t right. I believe in my idea and I’m going to follow it through.”
So, about two years and lots of letters and lots of phone calls later, his phone rang. It was President Eisenhower inviting Robert to come to the Capitol on July 4, 1960 to help raise the newly approved American flag with 50 stars over the U.S. Capitol.
You know, Robert’s story reminds me how, so often, people spend a lot of time worrying about their critics. It’s always seemed to me – and I’ve learned this more and more as I’ve gotten further along in my career – that feedback can sometimes be overrated. A lot of people put a lot of stock in feedback. They’ll say, “We did this thing, now let’s get feedback about it” and that’s ok; feedback can be valuable.
But if and when you get feedback that isn’t necessarily positive, and especially if it’s unsolicited about something you’re really sure is right and you can explain why it’s right, it may be that criticism isn’t something you should listen to. Another question to ask yourself: the criticism that’s being leveled at the thing you care about…is it coming from people you made that thing for? Because, it could be, that thing you created isn’t for them, isn’t for those critics.
Things that we make, things that we create, projects that we pursue, ways we hope to impact the universe through the work we do is really art. It’s the art of your life. Art has critics. The best art often has lots of critics. Often the best artists, and I would suggest the best workers carry on with their life’s work regardless of the criticism, in spite of the criticism, because of the criticism, motivated by the criticism just to show the critics they were wrong.
In Robert’s case, once the U.S. flag with 50 stars got adopted, he went back to his teacher. Robert said, “hey, this flag has 50 stars and its our nation’s flag.” It is the flag you and I see every day if you live in the United States, and all around the world it’s the flag that everybody is familiar with when it comes to the United States. In response, his teacher was like, “I was wrong” and gave Robert an A.
So, when you have critics at work don’t let them get under your skin because their criticism is just one person’s opinion. They could be wrong. Their criticism could some from all sorts of places that are invalid. It could come from jealousy. It could come from fear. It could come from ignorance. It could come from just being mean. It doesn’t matter. It’s not your problem.
When you get feedback about your work, listen to it. If there’s something in that criticism that’s valid, or serves you, or could improve your work – go ahead and include it and say thank you. But that criticism – if you hear it and your initial reaction is, “that’s bull and they’re wrong,” go with that. That’s the right instinct, and I would argue, that’s the voice you should follow. Because if you do, I very much believe it will help you win at work.
