6 ms·

> He seems to have only complaints, not solutions. That might be because giving a diagnosis can be made to be perceived as somewhat objective, while suggesting

> He seems to have only complaints, not solutions. That might be because giving a diagnosis can be made to be perceived as somewhat objective, while suggesting a solution would get into politics really quick and thus risk reflexive dismissal of even the diagnosis itself.

DoreenMichele 6y ago
"Bring solutions, not complaints" was something a manager at my corporate job used to say. He wasn't my manager and I didn't interact much with him and I no longer remember his name. But that rubric made an impression on me and it's something I took to heart as a useful rubric and it is surprisingly useful and solid as a guideline for both how to be effective and how to minimize social drama in the process of trying to interact with the world. Of course it's fine that some people focus on simply trying to describe the problem as objectively as they know how. That's not a useless thing to do. But given that I don't know this man's work and the word antidote is in the title, I don't think my hope for solutions instead of complaints was unreasonable either. Because my impression was so negative and I don't know him or his work, I had decided I wasn't going to leave a top level comment because I didn't want to be here to just shoot him down. That seems like not great behavior. My comment was a reply to someone asking a question about how his work makes other people feel. I felt it not unreasonable to chime in to say "It's not just you. Finding his stuff negative does not seem to me like you just being neurotic and negative baselessly." Of course, different strokes for different folks and me agreeing that it seems negative isn't rebuttal to people who find something positive in it. Feelings aren't facts and how people react emotionally to a thing will have a lot to do with personal background, etc. I'm guessing his work wouldn't be my cup of tea and: So what? Who cares? No one is required to feel the same way I do about a body of artistic work. There's always some degree of interpretation involved when it comes to art.
- edmundsauto 6y ago
  > "Bring solutions, not complaints" was something a manager at my corporate job used to say. I have heard this before, but IMO, this is terrible advice. Identifying problems is a valuable trait, and the advice above tends to squash people's willingness to highlight a problem that they know is there, but aren't equipped to solve. People like solutions to be brought because it requires less cognition, not because it's a good strategy.
  - deleted 6y ago
    [deleted]

DoreenMichele 6y ago

"Bring solutions, not complaints" was something a manager at my corporate job used to say. He wasn't my manager and I didn't interact much with him and I no longer remember his name. But that rubric made an impression on me and it's something I took to heart as a useful rubric and it is surprisingly useful and solid as a guideline for both how to be effective and how to minimize social drama in the process of trying to interact with the world. Of course it's fine that some people focus on simply trying to describe the problem as objectively as they know how. That's not a useless thing to do. But given that I don't know this man's work and the word antidote is in the title, I don't think my hope for solutions instead of complaints was unreasonable either. Because my impression was so negative and I don't know him or his work, I had decided I wasn't going to leave a top level comment because I didn't want to be here to just shoot him down. That seems like not great behavior. My comment was a reply to someone asking a question about how his work makes other people feel. I felt it not unreasonable to chime in to say "It's not just you. Finding his stuff negative does not seem to me like you just being neurotic and negative baselessly." Of course, different strokes for different folks and me agreeing that it seems negative isn't rebuttal to people who find something positive in it. Feelings aren't facts and how people react emotionally to a thing will have a lot to do with personal background, etc. I'm guessing his work wouldn't be my cup of tea and: So what? Who cares? No one is required to feel the same way I do about a body of artistic work. There's always some degree of interpretation involved when it comes to art.

edmundsauto 6y ago
> "Bring solutions, not complaints" was something a manager at my corporate job used to say. I have heard this before, but IMO, this is terrible advice. Identifying problems is a valuable trait, and the advice above tends to squash people's willingness to highlight a problem that they know is there, but aren't equipped to solve. People like solutions to be brought because it requires less cognition, not because it's a good strategy.
- deleted 6y ago
  [deleted]