CHAPTER 17
CRITICS ISMs
No one loves criticisms. We love to find ourselves on the good books of our friends, family, fellow workers, or fans. The possibility of these though is slim. One way or the other, you will find some person who thinks the best you are putting isn’t good enough.
A friend of mine was in charge of a team of young persons. As a leader, it was great work as leaders often face. Leaders have to put themselves down for the good benefit of the whole. My friend did just that. He read all the leadership handouts and text and tried improving where he was lacking. He was burning out and terribly degrading trying to see through the projects of the team. He seemed to enjoy the work and he was making headway. He was expecting encouragement but what he got was a fuss, a sigh and words downgrading his achievements. He came running to me. I smiled and said, well bro you should expect that.
There is no standard yardstick for measuring human performance. As much as we exist in life, we obey the law of relativity. What is considered a high standard for some person may be a low standard for another.
Critics must exist. Some persons are more learned than others. These persons have garnered experience, which puts them in position as judges to critic some other person’s work. These judges often expect others to come to their very high standard but they fail to realize that their high standard did not come in a day. It took years of training, one the other persons may not be opportune to have.
Some persons make it a habit to criticize whether or not they have an idea what is being done. These persons pose as busy bodies poking their heads unnecessarily into issues without having had the requisite knowledge to give sound judgment. They complain but can’t give solution to the problem.
Some persons use criticisms as publicity stunt. They strive to attract attention to themselves by criticizing government on media platforms. They often escalate faults and seize on that to attract public sympathy.
For those whose public status is slowly waning, they pay for criticisms. They act out the scene as being the ideal and others, the critics, thus attracting empathy from the public.
Criticisms though is great when it’s done in the right light like when a lecturer critics the examination script of his students or when someone finds a hole in a project that has been considered error proof and brings it to the knowledge of the examiners. Criticism is great when you observe, critic and offer solutions or positive additions. Criticism done in humility often gain attention and consideration even when no one heralds them than the big mouthed friends who only makes noise.
When we are criticized, we have to learn to accept them however way they come. They may sound like some nonsense from some attention seeking folk but listen again and you will find some sense in the criticism.
Rather than raise our voice in anger and suspicion, we should accept the criticism and see how to build ourselves to cover the holes that our critics have used against us.
One certain fact is that critics do often have an idea even if they do not have all. They may seem blind but they have hindsight one they use to their advantage.
When you do want to test the success of your project and its flaws, your critics can be your source of results. Spy them and get what they are saying. They are certainly saying something. Pinpoint their observations and go about solving them.
However way we see critics and their ism’s, we need them.