THINKS YOU NEED A CRITICAL VOICE
POSTED BY DAN YOUNG
Listening is a skill that many people have lost. Recently, I read a blog post in "Seattle 2.0" about a conversation in SXSW where a woman was pitching an idea for a startup. The conversation did not go well.
The pitch was unsolicited (a bad idea under any circumstance) but was nonetheless received. It sounded like a idea that a larger business was already doing with good success. So a question was posed that she heard, but did not listen to as to what made her idea different. Thus she continued down a frustrating road where she cannot understand why no one understands her idea.
Entrepreneurs tend to take criticism poorly. No one wants to hear that their business idea--their baby--is ugly. They take it personally; their reaction is emotional. What this means is that we tend not to hear meaningful, insightful questions that challenge our assumptions and make us think critically about our idea. Entrepreneurs want supporters, they want to be told that their ideas are fantastic and that they cannot fail. The truth is that you can fail.
Learning to listen to those who have critical opinions is not easy; it rubs against our disinclination to seek out unflattering questions. Those entrepreneurs who learn how to really listen to the hard questions and respond honestly and openly are the ones who are most likely to succeed or come to an early realization that their idea might not be fully baked, cutting their losses early. Those who do not listen end up like the woman in the story--she is most likely going to fail.
