Be a Spongebob during criticism.....

The web is peppered with articles of the nature of 'Traits to know you are an entrepreneur' and I have always read such articles to see whether I fit the bill. Articles cite qualities such as not being able to work for someone, being innovative, not being able to take instructions and not being able to digest feedback and criticism among others. But I always find that the last in the list of traits is not always true.

One of the biggest challenges I face everyday in my entrepreneurial journey is the ability to handle 'feedback', that transcends the boundaries into easily being 'criticism'. Everyday, I am faced with endless oceans of feedback, rivers of criticism and trickles of appreciation if I am lucky. I am faced with critics both inside the company and my customers and I am found wanting in my ability to first absorb it and second make something from it.  

There are ways that one can handle this and I have found my own home based recipe for this. A disclaimer is that the management gurus may beg to differ on this (for which I will be criticised again !!!), but I will still go ahead with it. 

Panic a little first - this reactionary response actually gets my brain thinking of what happened. I quickly run through the sequence of events leading to the situation of my customer being unhappy. I just feel it helps me understand the enormity (or the lack of it) of the problem.

Undermine the problem - don't take the literal meaning of the words here, I have used them for the lack of anything better that could describe it. Basically, I deal with every criticism heaped upon me as a situation I feel that can be solved. I break up the problem into tiny bits and I prioritize what needs to be done first to salvage whats left of my reputation!!. 

Take Action - Well I may sound like a seasoned professional here, many may argue that its the obvious thing to do. But my definition is not as enormous as it sounds. First either me or my colleague associated with the project will start a dialogue with the unhappy individual. My tardy experience has been that if we show ourselves up at a time our customer needs us the most, that helps build a lot of credibility. Because guys, there are a lot of vendors out there who don't even answer the phone at the sight of a customer crisis, and thats really annoying.

Take the beating buddy - The moment you show-up at the customer's office or over the phone, do not resist the outrage from the other end. Absorb it like a sponge and if possible, refrain from saying anything at all, irrespective of whether you are right or wrong. If you have no wrongdoing, atleast you will gain a lot of goodwill from your customer for having the patience to withstand it all.

Promise - Now that the dust would have settled, assure the customer that you will fix it. Promise him an outcome with a timeline and tell him that you will do anything it takes to fix the problem. 

Now really take action - Now put your best people on the job and get it fixed. Keep the customer updated on even the most silly progress you have made on the problem. That will cool their nerves and provide an assurance that you are on the job.

Now a real scenario     

Phone Rings - Chinmay what have your people done? Its completely messed up....

Me - Sir, I am coming there with the project leader

I then put on my Spongebob costume and dash to the car......