Feedback about your work is helpful…sometimes. Sometimes at work people make the mistake of assigning importance to all feedback equally, although this might not be the greatest idea. Some feedback, and some criticism of your work, may be more useful than others. A lot of it may not be useful at all.
For example, in 1958 high school student Robert Heft of Lancaster, OH submitted his design for a 50-star American flag to his history teacher for a class project. Robert had heard that Alaska was on the verge of being admitted to the Union, and would be followed closely by Hawaii, such that the then current 48-star flag would need to be updated. However, when Robert submitted his assignment, his teacher thought the work was bad and gave him a grade of a B-.
At the time Robert felt like his work deserved a better grade, and his teacher’s criticism of his work was, well, bullshit. So over the next two years he called and wrote different parts of the government until, in 1960, Robert Heft received a call from President Eisenhower inviting him to attend the first raising of the new American flag – based on Robert’s design – over the U.S. Capitol.
Afterward, Robert went back to his teacher who admitted that they had been mistaken, and revised Robert’s grade to an A.
The work you do and the impact you have represents the legacy of your life on this earth. If and when you do work that you think is good, that you believe in, that you’re proud of – don’t ever, ever, ever let naysayers dissuade you from what you’ve set out to do. Such naysayers may bring criticism for any number of reasons that have nothing to do with you. Critics may attack your work because they’re jealous, or ignorant, or fearful…or they could just be plain mean. Moreover, it’s sometimes that case that when critics come after your work, that the work you’ve done isn’t meant for those critics. Especially when you receive unsolicited feedback from people your work isn’t even for, you should give yourself lots of license to ignore them.
The work you do is your art. Often the best art, and I would argue – work, has lots of critics. In turn, the best artists continue with their work in spite of those critics, or even because of those critics. Let criticism of your work fuel your motivation to keep doing it!
When you do work that matters, that you know will have a positive impact on the world – stay the course. Because, if you do, it will help you win at work. https://www.eric-woodard.com/
