No one on earth can understand my unique place in the universe or properly relate to my individual experience. That includes me. While I may be closer than most, I lack that all-important distance. Distance that provides perspective and insight. Distance, in this body, I certainly don’t have.
Advertising is a strange business that bases much of what happens on criticism or so-called “feedback.” But how can anyone criticize me if they haven’t danced in my shoes? Because walking alone isn’t adequate. You need to do a little more if you want to understand where someone is coming from.
Therefore, I refuse to play the game of feedback. It’s a fruitless one, which usually ends with hurt feelings and handkerchiefs full of tears. I won’t stand for criticism of any kind, nor will I sit down for it either. To critique my work, you need to be a dear, dear friend with approximately twenty years of goodwill in the bank. Otherwise, things are bound to be misinterpreted. A gentle review can quickly turn pear-shaped, ending one’s ability to create great work.
Creative thinkers are delicate beings. I don’t think of them like flowers or snowflakes, words too often associated with the overly sensitive. Because even those common sobriquets are far too judgmental. They are like medieval maces, cool-looking, but also intimidating. You don’t know how to approach them either. Soft edges are there, only dangerously surrounded by spikes. Don’t bother giving it a whirl. Saying nothing tends to be the most prudent course of action.
There’s always a risk inherent to giving feedback.
To avoid the sting of a verbal assault, play it safe instead. Sometimes, the most surprising thing is also the most expected. What’s wrong with being predictable? The sun’s predictable and there’s very little one can mount in the form of criticism towards it. Solar flares, happen, yes. But no one’s perfect. If only most of us were half as predictable as the sun, ads would be twice as good. And we'd all be stars.
The lesson here is to play it safe. Go through life wearing a helmet and seat belt even if you are far from the road. You may look stupid, but during that sudden hailstorm or falling AC unit, no one will be laughing. You can’t be too prepared. But you can receive too much feedback.
The idea that feedback helps improve someone’s work is patently absurd. We should all live comfortably in our own bubbles, avoiding any sharp objects that may disrupt the status quo. But what’s so wrong with doing what’s expected? Beavers are expected to build dams and yet, we still shower the semiaquatic rodents with gifts and adulation. They do what’s expected of them, time and time again, somehow escaping our cruel barbs and dreaded feedback.
There are some, not me, who’d have you believe that beavers would be better off and more fulfilled creatively and personally if they cease building dams and start building bridges. Not metaphorical ones with birds or hunters either, but Roeblingesque masterpieces, spanning rivers and ponds for miles on end. But would that make them satisfied? Or would two tired beavers just look at a gorgeous wooden suspension bridge that they just completed and say “we could’ve built 10 dams in the time it took to build one of these.”
“Yeah, and we'd be about 10 times happier, too.”
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