The sooner you understand this, the less pain and anxiety you will experience.
•I’m still amazed how lots of people in our industry respond to comments. They act like it’s the first time anyone has ever questioned anything. If you’ve been doing this for 10 minutes, it becomes pretty clear lots of people have lots of comments.
•I believe in listening to all comments, but listening doesn’t mean making them all.
•Let’s look at types of comments.
-Many are bluster. Ones people yammer in meetings and have no real heart for. If you ignore them, they usually die of their own lack of conviction.
-Others can be addressed and dismissed. This is why we did that. Oh, now I see!
-Some actually make the work better. Dare I say that?!
-Of the handful that make it through, one or two are easy fixes.
-That leaves the occasional significant comment.
•If some proposed change will rock the very foundation of the idea, that is the time to have a serious, honest conversation where you try to convince them otherwise.
•You cannot elevate every little change to this importance, then, it’s the boy who cried wolf, and no one will care when you have a REAL concern.
•Just know, there will be comments. Use your skill to address them, and move on to producing some great work.