nifty. sassy. better than a yummy paperback...

That's some of the feedback my little blog has garnered in the handful of months since its inception. It's also been labeled "entertaining", "friendly", and "personal without being personal" (so I guess impersonally personal?).

Another called one of my posts cheesy. Then another countered it was awesome. Indeed, one man's trash is another man's treasure. Like companies, I could do several things with the feedback:

• Reinvent: I could decide I don't like what I'm hearing and reinvent myself into something I'm not. And alienate all my readers and credibility in the process. That doesn't sound too nifty an option...yet many companies do just this.
• Rationalize: I could rationalize the feedback to serve my own agenda (hmmm..."sassy" actually means "the smartest, snazziest, bestest blog yet!"). But denial is a dead-end--which too many companies follow to their fateful end.
• Listen (really listen): I could take the valuable feedback with the honesty (and generosity) in which it was given and use it to understand my value, build upon my strengths and improve my weaknesses. Yeah, I'll take this one.
  

You gotta be objective with yourself and your company. A very hard, if not impossible, thing to do. That's why feedback is invaluable. Unsolicited feedback is preferred--it's best when you don't ask people how they feel, just let 'em feel it and then communicate it to you on their terms.

What does your company (or your clients) do with feedback: reinvent, rationalize or really listen?

Comments

[Ann Handley]

"You gotta be objective with yourself and your company. A very hard, if not impossible, thing to do. That's why feedback is invaluable."

Precisely, CK! Well said.

[Mack Collier]

Blogger know thyself, and thy community ;)

Good post, a shame most companies don't follow your excellent advice.