Handling Criticism | Creative Insights
Knowing where criticism comes from and directing it towards getting better at your craft and owning your decisions.
As creatives we tend to be immensely passionate about our work, it’s like a baby! We nurture our craft day-in and day-out, in times of sickness and health. Sometimes, at the cost of our personal lives. Most creatives think about work most of their woke hours(even if they pretend to be chill, or don’t talk about it), even in sleep (some even talk about it while sleeping), so it’s obsession, it isn’t something we do paycheck to paycheck, it’s something we might leave the paycheck for, if need be.
Passion is what drives us right? — but there is always a different rhythm we like to channel, some work well in chaos, while others like me have a sharp need for arrangement and systems. Nonetheless, we’re all looking for the moment of epiphany, that moment where we’ve finally realized a climax, a solution or a visual that fits what we were on to.
After putting in constant work (more than the usual 9–5 that we’re paid for), there is a draft wrapped up at 5 AM. Between that nauseating feeling for criticism and exciting emotions for finally arriving — we’re confused with moments of self doubt and an insecurity leading to destruction. Many, including me scrutinize the piece at least a couple of times to see it to perfection, even then there is an uncomfortable feeling in the stomach! It’s never right, but somehow you’ve managed to get the adrenaline, a caffeine kick or a puff of cigarette to finally click the send button.
That’s when the flood of thoughts begin —What if this is the worst idea of the world? What if the solution doesn’t work? What if I lose the client? What if I get fired from the job? What if my subordinates find it inferior? There’s a chaotic self doubt that makes you drown. There’s already enough voices in your head that imply pressure of quality of the work, until the next morning.
What happens in the morning?
Everyone is back to their desks. They’re getting their caffeine fix and catching up on email, regular work banter. They catch your mail and go through your work. Your baby is now being judged and scrutinized at every detail, from the Tom in the IT dept, to the Dick in the Sales team and Harry in the production channel. Probably, they would give a more holistic view you think, at the end of the day it’s not just your baby — it’s a baby being raised in various constraints and between many stakeholders. We tend to get protective and defensive at every comment someone has on the fallacies of the piece of your heart, however there is a moment between responding and reflecting. What I want to express today is let’s reflect instead of responding! I’ve been a victim of the trap where my first response came in protecting and justifying my work. But there is beauty in accepting whatever words come your way.
It’s simple. Don’t let yourself become the unwanted banter of the water cooler, instead keep calm and recognize where the criticism is coming from, is it from a place of genuine concern towards the quality of work and your growth or is it coming from a place of jealousy or uncontrollable factors that you aren’t responsible for? Analyse the tonality and the psyche behind it, probably it’s imperative to understand this. Second, write down the feedback, and try applying it to your work, perhaps it might make it better a tad bit — for better or worse, you always have something to get back to.
Recognizing and churning out the constructive feedback from the most disheartening words is difficult and heart breaking, but nonetheless important, eventually it helps you grow in understanding people, motives, working with people — and probably getting better at your craft in one way or another (maybe, the voices in your head become less frequent after all!)
And as they say, take your broken heart and turn it into art! Transitioning from academic world to the real world is difficult, and practicing design and writing for long, I write what I struggle with regularly.
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