Seth Godin has a[nother] excellent post this morning entitled Interpreting Criticism. Here’s the money quote:
Criticism of your idea is usually based on assumptions about the world as it is. Jackson Pollock could never have made it as an painter in the world as it was. And Harry Potter was rejected by just about everyone because for it to succeed the way kids read would have to change.
The useful element of this sort of criticism isn’t that the fact that people in the status quo don’t like your idea. Of course they don’t. The interesting question is: what about the world as it is would have to change for your idea to be important?
We’re foolish not to be open to feedback about our ideas, plans, tactics, and strategies. The key is to examine – and filter, accept, or discard – that feedback within the context of what we think we know that those providing the feedback don’t.