How many people are you upsetting?
Please tell me that you are at least upsetting someone.
Otherwise, what kind of breakthrough are you going for?
It’s ok to fight people, we are lacking fighters.
Bottom Line: Someone is always going to criticize you, might as well beat them to it.
Sparked by David Cain
{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
Ha! Completely agree. If you aren’t pissing some people off with what you do, then you aren’t doing a good enough job. Better to have 90% of people love you and 10% hate you then 100% feel you are mediocre.
Hey, thanks for the shout-out, Carlos.
I was always afraid to upset people. Announcing my resignation at my job was upsetting to certain people, and I knew it would be, so it was scary. But man did I feel good when I did. I felt like I’d grown a whole lot in the few minutes it took.
This has always been a big question for me. While I don’t think people should pander for approval or strive to please everyone (at the cost of greatness), I do believe that some people thrive on creating controversy (Penelope Trunk) and some do not (me). I hesitated to blog at all when I was first getting started because I felt like if I wasn’t totally divisive and shocking I wouldn’t be successful. Then I realized that success for me is inspiring people – not dividing them. Plus – I don’t have thick enough skin (yet) to be able to handle super intense criticism. Perhaps one day I will be more forthcoming with my opinions on controversial issues – Carlos, you are a great example of sparking intelligent debate.
Great point Jenny. There’s a subtle (or major) difference between pissing people off with your decisions, and looking to be controversial. Going for controversy just for buzz-sake is not worthy nor admirable for me. But saying “to hell with mom and dad, I’ll do what I want” is very healthy.
Glad to see you around again my friend.