Sugar Isn’t Sweet

I admit it:  I’m an American Idol addict.  I watch every week – both nights.  OK?  You’ve got my secret vice front and center.  You happy now?  Oh wait – maybe that’s not my secret vice.  Maybe it’s really that I keep finding business lessons in fluff such as Idol!

No, not about product placement or fashion, although Paula’s outfits are an entire month’s worth of posts.  No, today I want to talk about Simon and his weekly stream of opinion.  He’s always booed by the audience, which seems to be made up of a few hundred people who think their 8 year old’s school orchestra sounds pretty much like the NY Philharmonic, or at least that’s what one would think from their approval of some pretty mediocre stuff.

Simon, to the tone-deaf audience’s despair, is candid, often brutally so.  His thinking is often perceived as cruelty when, in fact, I think it’s kindness.  The music business, like sports, like movies,  is as brutal a business as there is.  Often artists of limited talent but sizable commercial appeal have a hit of some sort and the gravy train flows.  Almost immediately, a protective wall of opinion is built by people who love to tell the singer that they’re great, they sound great, all is well.  But they’re not and it’s not and they need someone like Simon to tell them so.

The best thing we can do as managers is not to sugarcoat things.  Help your people and your business get better by being honest (which doesn’t mean cruel).  If someone is screwing up, telling them (Paula) that they look great isn’t helping to solve the problem.  Simon gets this – I believe he is giving wonderfully constructive criticism although sometimes one has to get past the brusque demeanor to hear it.  You need to do the same with your folks and with yourself when it comes to your business.

What was the last chance you had to help someone with constructive criticism?  Did you sugarcoat it or go full Simon?