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10 Tips to Manage Criticism

by Guest Author

 

Oh sure, you think you nailed that site architecture and that home page reads like pure poetry, right? After all, you wrote it. But that’s the problem. You wrote it. You designed the graphics. You created the keyword list based on those finely-honed intuitive instincts so it must be perfect. It’s your baby.
Fact: you aren’t always right. Fact: some of your ideas just aren’t practical. Fact: a second, third and even a fourth opinion improves even the best-thought-out plan – if you’re willing to listen and learn.

1. Just because you fall short doesn’t mean you failed.
Easy to say, but not necessarily easy to live with. No one likes criticism. No one likes to admit that there’s a better solution, but the fact is, there are always better solutions. Criticism is a tool. It provides different perspectives. It identifies steps that you missed during the first round.
Learn from others. Just because you get push-back from a new client doesn’t mean the client got it right and you got it wrong. It simply means the client has a different point of view – one from which you just might learn a thing or two.

2. Open mind, closed mouth.
This is going to come as a shock but you won’t get it right every time. Ok you’re good, but you aren’t perfect.
You also aren’t a mind reader. Be prepared to revise your thinking and to look at your professional and personal life from a different point of view. Keep an open mind when listening to criticism. And don’t defend your baby. There are a lot of ways to get it right. Acquiring knowledge from others is the best way to learn. It’s real-world, real-time learning, not something you picked up in a school classroom 10 years ago.

3. Become a stakeholder but don’t drive your stake through the heart.
You know, the only way to kill a vampire is to drive a wooden stake through the undead monster’s heart. And you may occasionally run in to a client or colleague that tries your patience to the point where driving a stake through the “idiot’s” heart sounds like a reasonable solution.
Okay, first, it’s not a solution. In fact, your negative reaction to criticism, regardless of the source, will only make a problem worse. It’s important to remember that things like site design, graphics and site text are 100% subjective and sometimes you won’t be 100% spot on.
Take a position. Become a stakeholder in any project or undertaking but don’t cling to your POV with your last breath. There are a million ways to get it right and listening to some constructive criticism from a client, a co-worker, family member or friend may actually move that undertaking in another direction. A better direction.

4. Consider the source.
Who’s criticizing? Does that person have authority? Is she better versed in the topic? Is he the one with the checkbook?
Clients want things done a certain way – even if you know they’re dead wrong in their approach. As a knowledgeable professional, you have an obligation to point out flaws in the client’s thinking. However, once you’ve pointed out the flaw and the client still wants it done his way, you’ve done your job. You provided the best consultation you could, you provided the road map to success, but if the guy with the checkbook wants black text against a black background – even after you’ve explained why that’s a problem – you’ve done your job.

5. Learn from anyone and everyone.

There will always be someone who disagrees with your point of view, your suggestions, your designs and your expertise. No problem.
Confident people learn from anyone simply by listening. You don’t have to accept the point of view. Your free will remains in tact. Your opinions remain unchanged.
The key is to have confidence in your abilities, professional and otherwise. With self-confidence, criticism isn’t a threat. It’s a useful tool.
Learn by listening. The more perspectives you see, the better equipped you become when similar circumstances come up next month or 10 years from now.

6. How’s your self-image doing?
Don’t take it personally.
Development is a process, a strategy, a goal or objective, but it’s not about you. Keep your self-image strong and you’ll keep you self-esteem in place.
Emotional intelligence (EQ) is an asset that’s often more important than intellectual intelligence (IQ). Accept criticism and learn from it. The result is a collaboration that delivers the positive outcomes from which all stakeholders benefit.

7. Not all criticism is constructive.
We’ve all met people, or have dealt with clients, who are mean-spirited – men and women who actually enjoy tearing your concepts to shreds. So be it.
Consider the source of the criticism. Consider the value of the criticism. Consider the benefits derived from the criticism. Never stop learning, even from those who are totally clueless. There may be a pearl of wisdom in what these mean-spirited people have to say.
Find those pearls and use them. Learn from them – even if the intent of their criticism is to undermine your efforts. Keeping silent in the face of criticism isn’t easy but it is beneficial to you, the client, the project, the objective.
Accept what you can’t change. It’ll save a lot of sleepless nights, hassles and headaches – especially when you realize that the source of the criticism doesn’t have the experience and knowledge you have.

8. Learn to let go.
You have an idea or concept, a design or strategy that you know is perfect. Okay, maybe it is, but don’t marry yourself to any one way of doing things. Learn to let go. Learn to keep an open mind.
You’ll be a better person for your efforts. Even better, you’ll learn to be a quality service provider when you can let go of that perfect concept and follow a different path. There are lots of ways to achieve success.

9. Recognize your own limitations.
Each of us has different strengths. Each of us has different limitations (weaknesses). Take pride in your strengths and use them to your advantage and to the advantage of your clients, your family and friends.
Accept your limitations and learn from others to lessen the negative impact personal limitations have on your professional career or the growth of your client base.

10. A closed mind never welcomes criticism.
Too bad. If you close your mind to new ideas, differing opinions or points of view, you don’t grow. You don’t get better. You don’t learn.

Criticism is about managing your emotions. It’s also about learning how people think, determining their needs and meeting those needs. Always put the needs of others before your own needs. It makes you a better human being and a better business owner, whether you’re a one-man company working out of a spare room at home or the CEO of a multi-national conglomerate.

Welcome criticism. Even mean-spirited criticism. In the end, you’ll learn. You’ll become a better human being and a better service provider. Think of criticism as a lesson from which you can become better at whatever it is you do.

The development of emotional intelligence isn’t something that’s taught in school. It’s something we learn by living, working with a variety of personalities and adapting to the needs of others.
To grow your business or to grow as a human being, recognize criticism as a positive, not a negative, in your daily routine.

In the end, you come out ahead.
In the end, your business prospers.
In the end, you win.

http://www.dailyblogtips.com/10-tips-to-manage-criticism/

Red meat & cancer & very bad journalism

Written by Zoë on February 25, 2011

I am struggling to think of a diet & health story, which has been reported worse than the one dominating the press this week – and there tends to be at least one in the press every day. The newspapers seem to think that “artery-clogging” is an adjective to precede either, or both, of the words “cholesterol” and “fat” – whereas “life-vital” would be more appropriate words.
The story on red meat and cancer has to take the biscuit, however…
The story started to break on 20 February 2011 – we were forewarned that a report from the Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition (SACN) was about to be released. “Red meat does increase cancer risk, new report will confirm” screamed the Daily Mail headline. The article opened with the following three sentences:
“Britons should cut their consumption of red and processed meat to reduce the risk of bowel cancer, scientific experts are expected to recommend in a report.”
“The Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition (SACN) was asked by the Department of Health to review dietary advice on meat consumption as a source of iron.”
“In a draft report published in June 2009 the committee of independent experts said lower consumption of red and processed meat would probably reduce the risk of colorectal cancer.”
So, SACN was asked to look at meat consumption as a source of iron and are going to conclude instead that lower consumption of red and processed meat would probably reduce the risk of colorectal cancer (bowel cancer)? (All the emphases are mine).
Notice how red meat has become red and processed meat – could these two substances possibly be more different? Real meat (by weight) is the most nutritious food on the planet – offal is best, red meat next best and white meat the next best for essential fats, essential proteins (amino acids), vitamins and minerals. Processed meat should not be ingested by a human being – full stop. Putting these two together is like putting drinking water and coca-cola together or sardines and sugared, breaded fish sticks. This is irresponsible and ignorant in the extreme.
Then notice the word probably - despite the fact that SACN were asked to look at meat and iron – we expect them to recommend that lower consumption will probably … No one reads that caveat – the damage is done in the sensational headline screaming out from every newspaper and on line news tweet on the 20 February.
So, 25 February 2011 arrives and the SACN report is published. All 374 pages of a report called Iron and Health - all about – Iron and Health!
The headline writers obviously don’t read the report – we know the headline already – “red meat causes cancer”.
BBC Breakfast kicks off the day of meat demonisation. Dr Alison Tedstone is the spokesperson from the Department of Health and she doesn’t slip up during the interview in her careful use of the words “red and processed meat.” She specifically says: “Our experts have said that there’s a probable link between red and processed meat and bowel cancer.” Note that probable and red and processed again. Plus note the word link - there is no causation being claimed – so, there might be a link between one terrific food and one evil food and bowel cancer? Um – I wonder which one might be the problem. The fab Susanna Reid starts to ask the right question “Why would red meat?…” and then corrects this to “why would red and processed meat be a particular problem?” Tedstone says that there are a number of “plausible” mechanisms by which “red and processed meat” “might be a problem”, “we don’t exactly know why…” But, despite not knowing why, we are then told to limit our red and processed meat consumption to around 70g per day – approximately 2 slices of meat a day. Boy, those cavemen should have been dropping like flies.
The London Evening Standard was one of the first to run the story: “Eat less meat: Government experts warn Britons.”  Experts from the SACN are expected to tell consumers to eat no more than 70g of “red or processed meat” a day. The headline says meat; the first sentence adds “or processed” in straight away. Is that because processed meat is the real killer? Does the sentence not hold if we just talk about meat?
The article goes on: “Some 1,900 cases of bowel cancer could also be prevented through cutting red meat consumption to under 70g per week.” Hang on a minute – how so?! The very next sentence describes the process by which processed meat is chemically altered. The sentence after says: “It is thought this process causes the formation of carcinogens, which can damage cells in the body and allow cancer to develop.” I have little doubt that processing meat causes carcinogens which can damage cells etc. But Ermentrude, out in the field near my house, grazing on fast growing grass in the Welsh rain and occasional sun – surely Mother Nature didn’t put her there to kill me?
The Evening Standard article ends with two telling sentences:
“Last year, experts from the Harvard School of Public Health in the US found that eating processed meats can increase the risk of heart disease and diabetes… However, unprocessed red meats, such as beef, pork or lamb, do not raise the risk, the study found.” So there is a difference between real meat and processed meat – we’ll just leave it to the end to point it out. This is disgraceful reporting.
BBC weren’t content just with TV coverage. They ran a story and tweeted on it in the morning – no doubt as a matter of urgency – I guess we need to know before we choose our lunch? “Eat less red meat to reduce cancer risk” the story instructed. First sentence? You guessed it: “People should cut back on red and processed meat to reduce their risk of getting cancer, the government says.”
Then the Department of Health tweet arrived: “Red meat link to bowel cancer.” Followed by the, now very familiar: “It  (SACN) concludes that red and processed meat probably increases the risk of bowel cancer…”
At this point it is important to go to the original source and see what SACN actually said. I haven’t read all 374 pages – I usually start any report with the conflict of interest and then look at the summary. If anything in the summary is not clear – you can always delve deeper.
The conflict of interest is always interesting. In this case we have the chairman, Professor Peter Aggett with the SACN 2008 annual report declared interests as: Astra-Zeneca; Nestec; ILSI (I cover this ‘sugar protecting’ body in my book “The Obesity Epidemic“), Wellcome; Yakult and Cadbury Schweppes. The vice chair, Dr Ann Prentice, has declared interests as: Institute of Brewing & Distilling; Mars; National Association of British & Irish Millers; Optimal performance limited; Tanita; Coca-Cola; The Beverage Institute for health and wellness (yes, really) and Weight Watchers. Professor Sue Fairweather-Tait has declared interests in Coca-Cola, GlaxoSmithKline, British Egg Information Service, Unilever and Totus Medica. Those are the worst.
The headlines of the report are then:
- In a 1998 Department of Health report, the COMA (Committee on Medical Aspects of Food & Nutrition Policy – the predecessor for SACN)  “highlighted possible links between red and processed meat and colorectal cancer”. Since red meat is an important source of iron in the human diet, SACN were asked to look at “the possible associated adverse implications of a reduction in meat consumption on other aspects of health, particularly iron consumption.” That was the brief – the possible link between processed meat and bowel cancer had been mentioned 13 years ago.
- The Terms of Reference were (and I quote) “To review the dietary intakes of iron in its various forms and the impact of different dietary patterns on the nutritional and health status of the population and to make proposals.” Hence calling the report “Iron and Health” – ‘cos that’s what it’s about.
- SACN started off the report with a bunch of excuses for why it has taken 13 years to write a report, which is so critical that the BBC needs to tell us (the wrong headline) about it twice before lunch.
- The conclusion of their task was as follows: “The modelling exercise indicates that reducing total red meat consumption (*) of consumers in the upper range of the distribution of intakes, down to 70g/day, would have little effect on the proportion of adults with iron intakes below the LRNI” (Lower Recommended National Intake).
(*) Note – in this paragraph (30) “Red and processed meat” is mentioned three times in as few lines before this summary sentence that seems to change this to “total red meat”. It is clear that red and processed meat is what we’re talking about. The title above para 30 is “The potential impact of reducing red and processed meat consumption on intakes of iron and zinc.”
Paragraph 36 reiterates that there is merely a possibility of a link between red and processed meat and bowel cancer. The logic then goes:
- “red and processed meat is a source of iron”
- “it is not possible to quantify the amount of red and processed meat that may be associated with increased colorectal cancer risk“
- “It may be advisable for adults with relatively high intakes of red and processed meat to consider reducing their intakes”
- “Modelling indicates that this would have little effect on the proportion of adults with iron intakes below the LRNI”
So, we’re not worried about population iron intake if the high red and processed meat consumers cut back.
And that’s what the SACN report was about.
But, never let the science get in the way of a good story…

http://www.zoeharcombe.com/2011/02/red-meat-cancer-very-bad-journalism/

Love Is Blue

Love Is Blue Lyrics

Performed by Frank Sinatra

Blue, blue, my world is blue
Blue is my world now I'm without you
Gray, gray, my life is gray
Cold is my heart since you went away

Red, red, my eyes are red
Crying for you alone in my bed
Green, green, my jealous heart
I doubted you and now we're apart

CHORUS:
When we met how the bright sun shone
Then love died, now the rainbow is gone

Black, black, the nights I've known
Longing for you so lost and alone
Gone, gone, the love we knew
Blue is my world now I'm without you.

Repeat CHORUS

Black, black, the nights I've known
Longing for you so lost and alone
Blue, blue, my world is blue
Blue is my world now I'm without you

Crown Him With Many Crowns

Crown Him With Many Crowns

Musical adaptation: michael w. smith

Crown him with many crowns,
The lamb upon the throne:
Hark! how the heav’nly anthem drowns
All music but it’s own!
Awake, my soul, and sing
Of him who died for thee,
And hail him as thy matchless king
Thru all eternity.
Crown him with many crowns
Crown him with many crowns

Crown him the lord of heav’n:
One with the father known.
One with the spirit thru him giv’n
From yonder glorious throne.
To thee be endless praise.
For thou hast died for me;
Be thou, o lord, thru endless days
Adored and magnified

Adored and magnified
Crown him with many crowns

His glories now we sing,
Who died and rose on high,
Who died eternal life to bring
And...lives that death may die.

Crown him with many crowns