Dealing with criticism
OK so you have your idea and you are confident that it is a good one, so you decide to share it with others, however much to your disappointment they aren’t as enthusiastic as you, in fact they criticize it, so how do you handle that?
Well here are some tips:
Think about who is criticizing your idea.
Is it someone whose opinion you value, if it isn’t then don’t be too concerned as they are probably jealous that they didn’t come up with the idea themselves.
If it is from someone whose opinion might be worthwhile then think about how the criticism can help you. Maybe even ask the person to give you more information.
Is the criticism fair?
Don’t feel too offended or defensive when you if you get criticized. Instead take some time to think it through calmly and fairly and consider what if anything you can learn from it.
How should you react?
The most useful and gracious reaction to criticism is to listen and thank the person for it. That doesn’t necessarily mean that you have to accept it, or follow it up, but it gives the criticizer the benefit of the doubt – the criticism may have been well meant.
If the person who is criticizing you is somebody who is always critical of things and never sees the whole picture then don’t worry too much. Most people never come up with new ideas and so when they see somebody else do it they instantly dismiss it as worthless just to satisfy their own egos.
Have you seen the whole picture?
Something may be given a reason for rejection or given criticism but there is another unspoken agenda that you may not be aware of. You might need to dig a bit deeper to get to the true reason why your idea was rejected.
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