One of the problems with collaboration is that everyone involved believes they are entitled to their say in the project. However, just because you’ve shared your opinion doesn’t mean people are going to listen to it.
According to author and master marketer, Seth Godin’s recent blog post – just because everyone is entitled to their opinion it doesn’t mean that you should listen to it. He writes about how we need to be more selective when listening to other’s opinions.
Here are some suggestions of when it may or may not make sense to act on the opinions of others
Lack of Standing
According to Godin, if you are “not a customer, a stakeholder or someone with significant leverage in spreading the word” you should be ignored. I know what you’re thinking, harsh right? Well Godin acknowledges that and says “If we’re going to do great work, it means that some people aren’t going to like it. And if the people who don’t like it don’t have an impact on what happens to the work after it’s complete, the only recourse of someone doing great work is to ignore their opinion.”
No Credibility
Godin believes that “an opinion needs to be based on experience and expertise.” He writes about the importance of filtering out the noise from the “people with a history of bad judgment” or “who have limited experience in the market”. Saying, “They’ve disqualified themselves because the method they use for forming opinions about how the market will respond is suspect.” However, “if you have a track record of matching the taste…of my market, then I very much want to hear what you think.”
Your Turn
What do you think, should we filter out others’ opinions?
Or by only listening to “experts” will we miss out on some potentially good advice?
