Nick aka “oats” posted this today:
My dad says that I have a lot of good ideas, but my delivery is bad. He says the way that I present my ideas can sometimes be hurtful. This is especially true if the idea is something that I am passionate about.
For example, my dad was doing something with the company by himself. And I had a better idea - he should hire X person to do X job. Either he wasn’t listening to me, or I was in a hurry to get my point across - but I told my dad that he was a bad manager, and he needed to bring somebody else in. Couldn’t he see that?
It was the truth. And I was right - he knew it. But he later told me that the way that I said it really hurt him.
Another example - Last night my friend Greg told me about this amazing new job opportunity that he was pursing. He was going to teach piano lessons over the internet using video conferencing. According to the business owner from California that he met on craigslist, Greg was going to make $40 per hour and have lots and lots of clients.
I told him that he would have exactly zero clients, that it was a terrible idea, and that he should stay focused on his career goals to join a big company and make steady advancements over time.
Again, I was right - teaching piano lessons via Skype video IS A TERRIBLE BUSINESS, WHY CAN’T GREG UNDERSTAND IT WILL FAIL? - but it really hurt him. He is probably still pissed at me.
*Nick probably reflects more than any business person I know that’s in our age bracket. And for the record - he’s rejected a business idea I had before, but I respected him for it.
