Context is everything. Yesterday this point was driven home to me by a comment on my blog that suggested that I was better suited for government work. My first thought when I read the comment was "what is he thinking?" Fortunately before responding I realized that we were talking about two different things and both of us were right.
When I wrote "5 Things to do when Business is Slow", I was thinking about the normal lulls in a cyclical business. They are predictable and can be used to improve the corporate environment when management plans well. The tips are solid and can be used for positive growth in employee skills, morale, and productivity.
The comment called my points "absurd" and questioned my qualifications. Since the tips includes things I've successfully implemented with incredible results, I knew they weren't "absurd" and wondered why he was being hostile.
After kicking my ego out of the way, I realized that the post was absurd if you were looking for tips to save a failing business. In today's economic climate, companies are dying and people are hurting. Someone coming from that perspective would naturally find the tips disappointing.
There are two type of business slow periods. One is the normal cycle where products or services are out of season. Finding ways to maximize the benefits during a temporary sales decline is good management. The other is a death spiral possibly caused by events out of your control. When a company is in this stage, following the tips in my post is absurd.
I'm grateful for the comment because it gave me a different perspective and the inspiration to write another post with tips on how to grow a business during an economic downturn. It also reminded me to think about other people's perspective before responding. The seemingly negative comment was reflective of the disappointment felt when the post didn't offer viable solutions as expected. It was more of a cry for help than an attack on my credibility. In other words, it wasn't about me.
This experience leaves me wondering how much nicer social networking would be if everyone looked past negative comments for ways we could help make things better for each other?