Guilty. That would describe my charge to the offense of not taking criticism well at times. It's always a different story when working with a client. There is a sense of amazement when a client won't just immediately implement some overhaul or new process that's been suggested. Lately, I've tried to digest my own absorption of positive feedback that's packaged in a constructive manner.
One such example is the website which I am creating. Last night, one of my buddies here in the city took time at the end of the day to skim my presentation next week. My perception was that it was essentially completed and really didn't require any further work. His thoughts - not an exact mirror. There were some pointers about general flow and word usage consistency. Even though there was nothing major sometimes when we are so invested in a project it's difficult to "move on" from what's on paper. Taking this to heart will definitely be a valuable tool to all future clients.
He also took a look at the new website and I figured that wouldn't be fun. What's so interesting is that even though there was an attempt to speak to a wide audience in terms of what communications consulting was, he didn't get that vibe. We always assume that our audience knows more (closer to our level of understanding) about any topic in which we are well versed. That's definitely been true of the advocacy work that I'm doing with the single payer healthcare initiative. Far too many large words and references to policy numbers that most people don't know anything about. He reminded me to incorporate the same thoughts to really smooth out what I could provide, in terms of consulting services, to a new audience.
Great help for current and future projects.
