sculpture, athlete, or actor,
(aka just being mean),
I believe a healthy balance of praise and constructive criticism
is the recipe for success.
No good comes from someone only receiving praise their entire lives
or only receiving criticism.
from a few of my trusted friends/colleagues/photographers
because it forces me to reexamine my business and work from a different perspective.
my photography and business improved in ways i would normally not have noticed!
If our ego’s were only stroked,
we would not improve our art because we would believe there is nothing to improve on!
It’s no coincidence that a book I received for Christmas and read this week,
has some great advice about this topic.
Randy Pausch, a professor dying of pancreatic cancer
shares his wisdom in the The Last Lecture:
“Getting people to welcome feedback
was the hardest thing I ever had to do as an educator.
It saddens me that so many parents and educators have given up on this.
When they talk of building self-esteem,
they often resort to empty flattery rather than character-building honesty.
I think the downward spiral of our education
is that there is too much stroking
and too little real feedback.”
“…..When you see yourself doing something badly
and nobody’s bothering to tell you anymore, that’s a bad place to be.
You may not want to hear it,
but your critics are often the ones telling you they still love you
and care about you, and want to make you better.”
“‘Randy, it’s such a shame people perceive you as being so arrogant,
because it’s going to limit what you’re going to able to accomplish in life.’
Looking back, his wording was so perfect.
He was actually saying,
‘Randy you’re a jerk,’
but he said it in a way that made me open to his criticisms.
I’ve been lucky enough to benefit over the years from people like Andy,
who have cared enough to tell me the tough-love things that I needed to hear.”
-via Pinterest
