React – Social Business Failure #14
That’s right. You want to fail right away? Then react.
Why would reacting lead to failure? Because you will be hit from so many different sides with so many objections that if you react you would 1) spend your time trying to clean up other people’s messes and 2) you would be so frazzled that you would not be focusing on your goal which leads to 3) a perception that you don’t have a clue of what you are doing.
And you do.
So what do you do? When someone says, “This is a waste of time. No one wants to be social!” Or if they come up with any in the list of objections, do you just ignore it? Yes and no.
Think of it this way. If someone came to you with one of those objections, turn it around and pretend that it was a criticism of you. When someone does that, you have to think:
1) Who is it that said it?
2) Are they right?
3) If they are not right, did they say it because they don’t understand, because of fear or maybe another reason?
A majority of the time you can just let it go – let it roll off. You can smile at them and say, “I’m sorry you feel that way,” without being condescending to them. Nothing you can do right now will change how they feel – they are in an emotional state. But eventually they will learn.
If it is someone with great influence, I might try having a one-on-one with them. If they are right, then think about changing it. There are so many possible situations, but you must pick your battles.
But if you react to every objection that arrises, you will let yourself be pulled from your goal.
Stay focused. Help others on their journey to understanding and adoption. But don’t react to every whim or you will overwhelmed.