All feedback is subjective.
(Not the kind of feedback that makes a loud whine when your microphone is too close to the speaker. That’s objectively happening.)
No, I’m talking about the kind of feedback other people give us about something we’ve done, are doing, or are working on. It’s part of our professional lives, but how useful is it?
Everyone has an opinion, and we frequently offer them and are asked for them. We give feedback a lot of weight, regardless of our capacity to discern what’s valuable from what’s…just an opinion. Even folks with expertise in a certain area often bring some sort of agenda, ego, or baggage to their feedback-giving.
When we’re working on something big, like a client pitch or a keynote, we get huge amounts of feedback. This influx of feedback, often conflicting, can be overwhelming. How do I know what to do? Which feedback is “right”? Who can I trust? Worst of all, the feedback can push us away from our own insights and instincts.
Getting a fresh perspective is helpful. Learning from people who can see what we can’t is valuable. Getting so much feedback that it becomes hard to distinguish what’s useful from what isn’t…isn’t.
