Think Before You Critique

Recently my wife emailed me a devotional she had come across. Not because she was trying to tell me something, but because it had a sports reference (guess she figured that might get me to read it). For those of you who know my wife, you know this was a bit unusual. First, she’s not big into technology (although she now wants an iPad) and secondly, she’s definitely not a sports fan.

 

 

The sports reference was a quote by Ron “Jaws” Jaworski. Recently, on ESPN Radio, Jaworski made this statement, “We have too many historians and not enough pioneers”. His point was  there are way too many people who relish the opportunity to arm-chair quarterback and critique past events, but not too many folks out there willing to try and make a positive difference.

I definitely agree on this. Too often I’m in meetings and people will focus all their attention on what didn’t work. Or instead of looking at what could be, they focus on all the reasons why something won’t work. I don’t know about you, but this drives me crazy!

Don’t get me wrong. I’m not saying we shouldn’t have a critical eye when analyzing the past, but we must do so in a way that moves us forward. Instead of just taking the critical shots, we need to be investing time and energy into coming up with solutions to the problems we’ve identified. This is how an organization improves and moves forward.

Here’s a thought. The next time you start to voice a criticism, stop and think. Think about what solutions you could offer instead of only critiquing. Imagine how much more could be accomplished when we focus on solutions rather than criticism and blame.

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