I had always thought that the Dilbert cartoon strip was created from the beginning to make fun of the "cubicle culture" - the modern dysfunctional workplace. Not according to Scott Adams:
When Dilbert launched in newspapers, the response was underwhelming. In the early years, it wasn’t a workplace strip. It was about Dilbert’s life in general. He just happened to have a job. I was surprised to learn, via my e-mail, that readers loved the relatively rare comics featuring Dilbert in the office. Personally, I didn’t think those were my best work. My ego told me to do it my way. My readers told me I was wrong.
Receiving negative feedback - from the market, customers, bosses, co-workers, employees - is never fun. But we ignore it at our peril. Ego can get us into a lot of trouble if we don't manage it. We can feel threatened when we receive feedback telling us we're not doing as well as we could be... and that causes us to get defensive.
What the hell do readers know? After all, they aren’t syndicated cartoonists, and I was, albeit in only a few dozen newspapers. But this time, fortunately, I ignored my ego, changed the focus of the strip to workplace humor, and it took off.
My grandfather once told me, "if someone calls you a donkey, laugh at them... but if everyone is calling you a donkey, buy a saddle and start selling rides." In other words - think about what people are telling you and don't ignore reality.
A colleague once told me that when listening to feedback he assumes 5% of it is true. This allows him to avoid getting defensive and to start getting curious about which 5% - so he has to consider all of the feedback. It is good advice that might lead to some rather spectacular breakthroughs in your performance.
Give it a shot - it worked for Dilbert.
welcome back
Posted by: David McGinnis | 03 August 2007 at 08:22 AM