Your best friends

Where many think that creativity and criticism are opposites of one another, I’ve long believed that honest criticism is an inherently creative act. Certainly, the best critics love what they criticize, and the act of engaging in honest criticism is, at heart, a striving to make things better. The best creative people often surround themselves with the best critics they can find, and the resulting dialogue between both perspectives is the fuel that propels the work forward.

Great work bears the results of this exchange. Conversely, otherwise quality work that has not withstood this rigorous process seems somehow broken, indulgent, and untrue – worse than mediocre. “Lilies fester worse than weeds.”

I encountered a bizarre example of this while reading “A Seat at the Table,” by Marc Miller. The central premise of the book is that the best salespeople operate not by pushing a particular product but by understanding and strategically solving the needs of their clients. A good book, I thought, until I reached the middle section in which the author sidestepped his core idea and started promoting – you guessed it – his own product, touted as the “coolest invention ever.”

The middle section was so out of step with the rest of the book that it could be separated from it as easily as you would unscrew a light bulb. Its presence was baffling because the author was otherwise smart and on message. It seemed to me the book was an object lesson in how even a gifted person can be momentarily led astray and let themselves forget their core message. A good critic would have made a big difference.

I left this book reflecting on how my critics – clients or colleagues – have improved the outcomes of my own work and I reminded myself to strive to enter the creative process with humility and to appreciate the many people who help make it better.