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Blessed are the Nitpickers
I would like to put the spotlight on who I believe are the most persecuted group of people on earth – the “nitpickers”. You know who I am talking about. These are the folks who take your marvelous idea or plan and start poking holes in it. They say things like, “What about this?”…”What could happen if?”…”Have you ever considered these possible consequences? All of a sudden, we creative people get defensive and even irritated. When this happens the communication wall goes up, and the quality of the collaboration goes down.
Years ago, I learned a lesson about nitpickers that I will never forget: I was attending an annual certification meeting that related to a leadership program I was licensed to teach. As an exercise, we were given a creative teamwork project and I was selected as the leader of my team. I had a plan, I was excited about it, and I presented it to the group. They loved it…all except one. This person said, “I think it would be more effective if we changed this part to this”. My pride was wounded. I felt like saying, “Don’t touch or change my plan. It is perfect!” But…this being a conference on leadership skills, I was obligated to build a team consensus. I appealed to the group and said, “What do the rest of you think?” They liked the suggestion. Checkmate. We had to make the change.
After we did the presentation, there was a prize for who had the best performance. Our group won. The facilitator asked, “What in particular did you find most effective about this skit?”. Can you guess what the audience said? Yes, it was the part of the presentation that came from the nitpicker’s idea. I learned a lesson about nitpickers: Learn to love them!
If I were to construct a nitpickers Hall of Fame, the first three categories I would include would be doctors, auto mechanics, and commercial airline pilots. I am glad they are such nitpickers. They help us lead healthy, comfortable, safer lives. Give-em a break!