A dollar's worth of shut up

Honest feedback sometimes can be a rare commodity.  A few years back Kadizzle was rambling on with a political rant at a local coffee group.  Getting near the end of the rant Kadizzle said to the group " For 25 cents I will keep talking, and for 50 cents I will shut up".  A wise old friend said, " Give me a dollar's worth of shut up.

Kadizzle has noticed the friends he likes most are those that shoot straight, and don't sugar coat reality. When someone helps you build a delusion they are doing you no favor.  Many years ago my father came back from an auction proud as punch with the bargains he got.  As he showed the old saddles, harnesses, and other horse crap to an old farmer he said, "Well what do you think it is worth?".   The shrewd old sod buster told him, " Well, if you ask me, it's not worth the match it would take to burn it".

Last night old Shanika called me as he waited for his luggage at the Bismarck airport.  Shanika periodically reads this blog. Shanika gave some good honest feedback, and asked Kadizzle to remove a story.  Kadizzle did as Shanika asked.  When all was said and done Kadizzle had a better grasp of reality.

What happens when you are surrounded by people who help you with your delusion?  Go to some fundamentalist church, or maybe a lynching. When people reinforce each others insanity it ultimately leads to a disaster. There is no better example of this than Nazi Germany.  Imagine a country full of delusional people.

So when someone tells Kadizzle his breath smells, or his zipper is down, or his brain has gone too far in the wrong direction, that person has done a service.  The person who tells you what you want to hear can be your worst enemy.

Yesterday poor old Hillary Clinton endured 11 hours of right wing insanity.  Today even the hard core Republicans admit the loser was the Republican Party.  The simple minded fools who meant to fry Hillary all came across as what they were.  How did they get in this mess.  It was the closed loop syndrome.  It was a bunch of people who had no good feedback.

Kadizzle grew up in union country.  In the Ohio Valley where Kadizzle was born there was a lot of union history.  Unions have done a lot of good, and they certainly have gone off the deep end in a few instances.  In the end Kadizzle has concluded unions are a good thing, and can actually be good for companies.  One thing Kadizzle found in his career is that unions gave good feedback.  When Kadizzle worked in the coal industry one thing you could count on was a real opinion from the union about any member of management.  With union protection the flamers in management would, could, and were confronted.  The union kept the egos of management from exploding.  A union member was free to speak up because he was protected.  Think about the role of criticism.  What does a coach do? A coach criticizes your performance and makes suggestions.  Is that a bad thing?

So what is the moral of this story?  The next time someone comes to you and puts you in your place, don't get angry, just say " Thanks, I needed that".