Constructive Criticism

NST-PROP 07/09/2002 By Andrew Wong

The mark of maturity, in my books, is how well a person accepts criticism, especially criticism that suggest ways of improvement.

It’s not an easy pill to swallow for many, and that’s perfectly understandable, what with pride, respect and ego getting in the way. But if we were to eat humble pie and face the commentators who mean no other harm than to encourage betterment with less resistance, what could be gleaned would be a wealth of information. Such as how others perceive us to be, which is especially important in cases where, like a person who snorkels, we become so immersed in what we’re doing that we don’t see how far we’ve actually gone until something prompts us to surface.

Why I can give analogies about constructive criticism is because there was a time when I was so full of myself that nobody could have pointed out my inadequacies without incurring the famous Wong wrath. And then I found out - my behaviour didn’t stem from my superior know-how, but in stark contrast, from a latent inferiority complex brought about by immaturity. To overcome it meant having to accept some hard-to-swallow bitter truths which broke down the barriers of arrogance and paved the way to maturity.

Acceptance of comments for improvement has opened the door to a seemingly endless learning experience. Even today, I’m still subjected to constructive criticism, but I have now learnt to take it in good faith, especially those proffered by whom I consider as mentors.

With the need to create dialogue in the property community today - the consequence of the fact that the industry can only be best shaped by interaction from parties such as builders, buyers, the government, consultants, estate agents and other related services - constructive criticism has become a norm.

While the confident and the matured have been known to accept and take these comments in their stride and use it for significant betterment, the weak and the immature feel threatened by it, tending to enter into defence mode by either lashing out or hiding in their shells.

A case in point: the House Buyer’s Association has been a vocal champion of consumers’ rights and developers’ wrongs. But instead of feeling intimidated by the association’s veracity, many developers I spoke to said they actually welcomed the comments as it would “weed out the thorns” and “aid in bettering the industry”.

“It’s the voice of the buying public and we must hear what’s been done wrong,” said one prominent developer. “It’s only when they stop speaking that we should start worrying.”

Sarcastically, you might suggest that these remarks were only lip-service, said because this was the proper and expected response. But I beg to differ. A look around the development landscape and the way many companies have initiated systems to build buyer confidence and tackle quality issues suggest they are heeding constructive criticisms. Lesser boys would have gone into hiding.

I would like to say such an attitude is prevalent industry-wide, but unfortunately, that’s not the case. On the opposite side of the fence where arrogance and ignorance exists, there are other sub-sectors which think they are infallible when in fact, they are quite heavily marred. They prefer to operate by way of self-regulation not because they can effectively do so, but because they don’t want others to look inside their shell and see them for their imperfections.

These sub-sectors have lived in their lie for so long they actually think they are in a position to propagate worldly advice, not knowing that the public doesn’t hold them in very high repute.

Their knee-jerk reaction to constructive criticism stems partly from the fact that they have long been seen as being at the bottom of the property food chain. Even though such a perception could be wholly undeserving, the years of being treated as such has given them an inferior complex which has to be overcome.

With the strength and conviction to surmount the misconception, they could then be more receptive to the comments so desperately needed for improvement.