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Most people ignore the advice they are given, that's just how people are. They have to come to a conclusion under their own power, or else it just won't stick.
by DenisM 12y ago
Most people ignore the advice they are given, that's just how people are. They have to come to a conclusion under their own power, or else it just won't stick.
There are exceptions that should be studied to understand the phenomenon. One thing I know there are people who will diligently take and address feedback, but only of one particular kind. For example, where I worked at Microsoft code review feedback was sacred - you never complained about it unless it was demonstrably, factually wrong, and you did as you were told. There probably were people who didn't follow these rules, but if so they did not last very long. Another example is master/apprentice relationship, where apprentice relegates his creative autonomy to the master for certain duration. This is largely imaginary at this point, as I've never seen this happen myself, but it's worth looking into. Yet another example is people's reliance on authority status - when an authority says something, many people are inclined to believe it just because.
You will note these are all exceptions to the rule however. Outside of these narrowly defined areas, people largely ignore any advice they are given. It is for that reason many people who have something to say keep it to themselves - they don't want to waste their time. Sometimes I bump into someone misguided and I just look at them smiling politely without saying much. Sometimes I also see people smiling politely at me, when that happens I try to unwind last few minutes of my words to see what could have gone wrong...