Fear of criticism - excuse wimps or the real problem of designers

    Once upon a time there was a designer. And yet, he was good: both his hands were straight, and the Wakomovsky tablet, and his design education. He only pursued his misfortune - he was afraid to show his works to people, and to his boss in particular. He will begin to work on the next task - he rejoices, gushes with ideas, inspiration overwhelms his designer soul. But the closer to the deadline, the more and more sad thoughts overcome him, the more his hands shake and the less he likes his own work.

    Since ancient times, designers, like many creative personalities, have been afraid of criticism. This spoils their life very much, because limits the imagination, reduces self-esteem and adversely affects the initiative. But for a creative worker, this is similar to death. Agree, it’s difficult to do creativity when your imagination doesn’t work.

    Designers (especially young ones) are easily vulnerable, often have a moving psyche and are able to plummet from deep enthusiasm in pink clouds to deep depression and apathy. Criticism of their work is one of the most reliable ways to plunge the designer into the abyss of despondency for a long time. Most often, such a reaction follows if the designer himself “deep in his soul” understands that his work is not a masterpiece, but is afraid to admit it to himself.



    Determining that your fear of criticism is fairly easy. If you are at times shy, often nervous, hesitate when making decisions, easily agree with someone else's point of view, are not confident in your position and do not like to admit your mistakes, then you are probably subject to it. A lot of useful information about the fear of criticism (and other fears too) is written in Napoleon Hill's book “Think and Grow Rich,” I highly recommend it.

    Where does this problem come from?


    Fear of criticism is not unique to designers. Do not think that we are so special, fragile and vulnerable, and all other people are insensitive idiots. This is not true. Fear of criticism has deep roots. Since ancient times, people have united in groups with similar individuals and opposed themselves to others - dissimilar. For centuries, those who think like everyone else, look like everyone and behave in the same way were considered respectable, correct members of society, and the rest were not. At one time, dissidents were generally burned at the stake. Therefore, it is natural to fear that your actions, views, your work or you personally will be criticized and set against the standards accepted by most. It sits deep in every person, and affects his worldview. Another question is how useful it is for survival now, whether it is necessary to deal with it,

    I’ll tell a story from my own past. My first job was a rather large web studio for that time. All colleagues were older and more experienced than me. And I behaved very modestly and was afraid once again to go to the art director to ask a question. Naturally, I also decided to express my opinion and propose ideas extremely rarely. They seemed to me stupid, banal and not worthy of attention.

    When I was planning to come to a new job in a few years, I began to fear that I would again find myself in a similar situation. Despite the fact that I already had a decent experience, the habit of fear did not give me rest. Therefore, I went all-in and from the very first day forced myself to speak in a confident voice what I think. Honestly, it was scary, but it had an effect! From a young man, I unexpectedly turned into an experienced designer, whose opinion is listened to. The beginning has been made. It became clear that the problem can be solved if solved.

    Of course, at times it’s still uncomfortable. Of course, there is still work to do, and even more than it seemed before. But I learned a lot from this story and made some simple conclusions that I want to share with you.

    So what to do?


    Step 1. Recognize that there is a problem.

    - Hi, I'm Olya and I'm afraid of criticism.
    - Hi, Olya!
    According to popular wisdom, awareness of the problem is half its solution.

    Step 2. Believe that the problem can be solved.

    You need to understand the main thing. The fear of criticism is just a state of our consciousness. Therefore, we can control it, fight it and direct it in the direction we need.

    Step 3. Deliberately deal with the problem.

    If we understand that fear lives in our heads, it becomes clear how to deal with it. Globally, there are two methods: the first - to do as much as possible that is scary and the fear will decrease over time, the second - to analyze the very situation that causes fear and try to change it (or change its attitude).

    Drunkenness fear - fight!


    Let's analyze the third step in more detail. How can a designer reduce his fear and organize the process in such a way that the very situation of the delivery of work will become less stressful.

    1. Show more


    Show work in the process to as many people as possible. Firstly, this is how you train and in time you will be less afraid, and secondly, test your work on someone less terrible than the boss. Use your colleagues for this. Look at their reaction. Ask them to criticize and honestly say that they don’t understand or that they are embarrassed. Do not argue, do not rush to immediately justify your decisions. Thank them when they find mistakes or make comments and motivate them to continue.

    Do not expect colleagues to tell you in detail how to make the perfect design. Most likely, many statements will be very private and related to the personal tastes of people. But the general nature of the comments and their focus will help you take a fresh look at the layout. Listen and analyze, compare words with what you yourself think. Often people notice precisely those inconsistencies in which you yourself did not want to admit to yourself.

    Treat your work as a way to test your decision, not as a trial of you and your talent. Ask to find mistakes, say that you do not like it. Try to benefit from this procedure. Try to learn from everything. Treat everything as an experience from which conclusions can be drawn and become better.

    2. Show to other designers


    Yes, this is the worst, I know. That is why this is what needs to be done.

    3. Take the boss to the team


    Consult with the boss, show him the intermediate versions of the work, and not just the final version. Firstly, one head is good, and two is better. The look will be more objective. Secondly, the boss will always see that you are working hard and are interested in the result. Thirdly, the situation is not ruled out that you misunderstood something at the very beginning, and, seeing your work at an early stage, the boss will be able to correct you. You will adjust the layout without wasting effort on drawing unnecessary details. It will be much easier for you to psychologically accept the adjustment at the initial stage, and not at the final version, native and close to your heart.

    4. Do not consider the leader an enemy


    Make yourself not afraid of the leader. Think rationally - why would he want to humiliate or insult you? He is not a villain, not a maniac, and not a petty official. He does not wish you evil, that's for sure. The only thing he wants is for you to do your job well and to benefit the project.



    Of course, the head of the head of strife. Of course, there are tyrants and capricious tyrants, sputtering and cursing. In this case, remember that the leader is not the younger brother, you choose him yourself and you can change if you wish.

    5. Minimize personal taste


    Do not treat design as a work of art. Ultimately, the design will be judged not by the principle of prettiness of the picture, but by the effect that it gives. Either use it easily and simply, or not. Either he performs the task well, or poorly.

    For example, you make a business card. The task of business card number one is to show contacts and say whose they are, task number two is to be remembered. If the business card is beautiful, creative, original and memorable, but the phone number is written too finely, without separators and cannot be read, then the business card is bad. Or take a landing page. Its task is to make the visitor write an email and click on the "Register" button. No matter how fashionable and beautiful it is, whatever photos and animation it may be on, if the button is difficult to find (for example, it is far “under the fold” or located on a non-contrast background) - the page is bad.

    The less in the design decisions based only on your personal taste and the more decisions based on the problem being solved, the more confident you will feel when you show it to your boss. The easier it will be for you to defend it and the more likely that the work will be accepted.

    6. Allow yourself to be mistaken


    Do not worry about mistakes. Everyone is wrong. From the first time, it is rarely possible to get perfect work in any field. This is completely normal. The most important thing is not to do it perfectly, but to do better each time, take into account more, rely on experience, learn and improve. If you grow and improve the quality of work, you are an excellent designer. If you think, analyze and learn - you are simply the dream of any leader.

    “Only he who does nothing is not mistaken. Do not be afraid to make mistakes - be careful not to repeat mistakes. ” Theodore Roosevelt

    Revise your old work. The fact that you may not like some of them is a good sign, it means that you have grown up - an excellent reason to raise your self-esteem. And high self-esteem is the strongest weapon against the fear of criticism.

    Finally


    Fear of criticism is something that can greatly prevent us from succeeding in our favorite business. This is one of the main enemies of any designer.

    Determining that you are subject to fear of criticism is not difficult. Think about whether you easily agree with someone else's point of view, are you shy, do you feel insecure when making decisions? If the answer is yes, then you have a fear of criticism in a neglected form.

    Recognize that he is and he is stopping you from reaching the sky-high heights that you are capable of. Most likely it will not be possible to get rid of him quickly; he can sit too deep in consciousness. But if you learn to recognize its insidious manifestations and consciously deal with it, then very soon you will feel how you gain control over it, you will begin to feel much more comfortable at work and grow faster in a professional way.

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