Do Business with the Critique Enlightened
Following on from a previous article about who not to do business with – Never Do Business with Litigious Assholes – the question arose as to what attributes would make a business relationship more attractive. The list would include dot points such as Hire and Do Business with Problem Solvers and Do Business with Value-Aligned Professionals.
However there are more attributes that can be taken into account for our list. One of these is to do business with the critique enlightened. By that term I mean you want to do business with those people sufficiently mature enough to let their ego stop at the project door and not to let the focus of discusssion be held back by perceptions of personal ownership and political tap-dancing.
The problem with ego is that when the project is discussed and somebody raises an idea, puts forward a criticism, or provides an alternative solution to any problem – all hell breaks loose. The designer jumps up with a machine-gun rhetoric defending their design and the programmer goes ballistic and the manager goes political voting for the most influential / powerful member on the team to be right. The problem with that is it kills the incentive to bring forth new ideas. It makes the project about people not the product. It creates mediocre at best and rubbish products in the worst case scenario.
It creates a political pressure for everybody to homogenise into a conforming group of yes-people with a sign going in the door – “New Ideas are Best Left at Home”.
So you want to add to your who-to-do-business-with list the critique enlightened. Those who understand that a new idea isn’t trying to dislodge them from a position of authority or power, or to make them look like an idiot in front of the general manager, or to pull their heart and soul out through their left nostril just because you’re a born and bred bastard. Don’t worry, if they don’t get critique then they’ll want you off the team anyway. If you get this point, I mean really get this point, then you’re looking for something a lot better than the angst of biting your lip every day.
Because a truely innovative team is focused on openly welcoming healthy conflict and supporting new ideas. When you hear talk about an employer of choice this is where I would personally place a large emphasis in my own criteria list.
Don’t be sold on the idea that you have to be a political muppet to get along in the workplace. Separate personal conflict (bad ass rubbish) from creative conflict (good ass gold shit). How’s your list going now?
