It's not personal

IT'S NOT PERSONAL.
Criticism is hard. It can zap your creative energy and kill your projects.

And whether you’re in the creative industry or not, you have to quickly learn how to NOT take feedback personally.

We’ve all heard ‘business is business’ and ‘it’s not personal’. 

But how do you actually change your mindset and take your emotions out of work you’ve put massive amounts of time and effort into?

Here are five approaches that have helped me handle criticism over the past decade:

1️⃣  TAKE A WALK IN THEIR SHOES
Understand your client's work environment and quite possibly have complications on their end. Their response may have nothing to do with you at all. They may be under pressure from homeschooling their kids, managing a tight budget, meeting their boss’s KPI, or something else.

2️⃣  BE OBJECTIVE
If someone behaves in a way you don’t expect, try to be objective about it. What is it that they’re really saying? Could you have communicated the ‘why’ behind your work better? Be genuinely curious as you’re likely to uncover something you can do differently next time.

3️⃣  LET SOMEONE ELSE LEAD
Sometimes it’s not about the work. Some people just don’t see eye to eye. It’s especially tricky to manage this issue while working from home, because you can’t invest the extra time in getting to know people. If you’re not vibing with someone, it might be best let someone else on your team lead the project.

4️⃣  STEP BACK IF YOU NEED
In some cases, you just have to accept that your vision and their vision may not be aligned. Remember: at the end of the day, it’s your clients’ work. They have final say, they own the legal rights and they own responsibility when it hits the market. It’s important to know when you need to let go of your dream for the outcome.

5️⃣  TWEAK YOUR PROCESS
At The Edison Agency , we’ve made some changes to our processes in response to client feedback. We were finding that the “big reveal” approach wasn’t working for higher level concepts, because it was too big a process and very hard to take clients on this journey via a Zoom call. Now we have smaller, more regular check-ins, with a more collaborative approach. It means we get really helpful feedback and are clear on precisely what the client wants much earlier.

If you’ve been experiencing more conflict and criticism lately, you’re not alone. Just remember that the person on the other end is likely dealing with a lot more pressure than usual, so take a step back, be empathetic, and see if you can make your process easier for them.

Feel free to let me know your favourite ways to handle criticism and conflict.

This post is part of my The Edison Agency 10 year reflection series, covering some of my biggest takeaways from the past decade in business. Read the blog here: https://lnkd.in/g9t5nWP3