Remember the last time you got a compliment, you felt like flying like a bird. And you also remember that when you got a criticism, you felt like you are worthless. Yes, that is very natural and most of us have experienced it. You should not be surprised at being criticized as it's a very normal part of our human life. You cannot entirely escape from negative opinions. But no matter how hard we try to accept it, we always love compliments much more than criticisms. You might not realize it but there is a big problem here in this approach. Specifically, if we entirely try to avoid being criticized, we move on a path to an endless mediocrity. When negative opinions and criticisms start to come less, we also become more mediocre. We lose the opportunity of growth. This can be very bad as in the long term it can lead to big failures which we will not be able to cope up with.
The Microsoft KIN is a good example of how lack of criticisms can lead to its downfall. The smartphone was launched in 2010, being one of the respected companies in the world couldn't even stop it from its failure although it spent around $1 billion in marketing costs and development. The phone was just in the market for 48 days. Why did it fail? The answer is that Microsoft failed to do testing of the smartphone with the demographic target. Only after the phone fell into a big failure that it came to know that 30 year olds preferred Blackberrys and iPhones more than Microsoft KIN. In this case, the criticisms were not taken seriously when the phone was in development. The huge loss and embarrassment could have been avoided had they taken the negative opinions seriously. That is why criticisms are more important factors than compliments.
The way in which you take or handle criticisms is also very important. It is always better to be calm and open minded when you are receiving a criticism. Try to listen and get a good perspective of what the full picture really means. If you do not understand some points or have doubts ask questions in a clarifying way. Don't take them for wrong quickly because they might be right. Also it is better and helpful to ask questions in how you can improve it. Although criticisms are very helpful it helps when more when you get it fast. The speed with which you get your feedbacks are very critical. The more early you get your feedbacks the better. For example, if your are thinking on setting up your own by business, try to ask your friends first about how the idea sounds to them and what they have to say about it. This should be done before your startup of the business. This would save a lot of trouble in the later stages.
It is always better to seek criticisms rather than compliments. As in the words of Norman Vincent Peale “ The trouble with most of us is that we would rather be ruined by praise than saved by criticism.”
