sethgodin.typepad.com: Great surgeons don't need to be respectful or have a talented, kind or alert front desk staff. They're great at the surgery part, and you're not here for the service, you're here to get well (if you believe that the surgery part is what matters). In fact, gruffness might be a clue to their skill for some. Great opera singers don't have to be reasonable or kind. They sing like no one else, that's why you hired them, and why they get to (are expected to) act like divas. Get over it.
Thursday, April 19, 2012
Seth's Blog: The end of the diva paradox
sethgodin.typepad.com: Great surgeons don't need to be respectful or have a talented, kind or alert front desk staff. They're great at the surgery part, and you're not here for the service, you're here to get well (if you believe that the surgery part is what matters). In fact, gruffness might be a clue to their skill for some. Great opera singers don't have to be reasonable or kind. They sing like no one else, that's why you hired them, and why they get to (are expected to) act like divas. Get over it.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
2 comments:
When it comes to any industry, I always favor the option that has better service. I'll always come back to the coffee shop with friendly staff over the place with the truly better lattes. So I'm not sure why I disregard these standards when it comes to entertainers. Everyone hears stories about how different performers or high-profile directors or designers are rude or unreasonable, and I think that in general I make excuses for their behavior. I don't know why this is.
This is very similar to another article I read this week about whether or not it is worth working with people who are talented but difficult to work with, and I think that here just as there, the answer is no. In this case, it is mainly because of two of the reasons that the author cited at the bottom of his article. The first is that in this day and age it is so much easier to be nice. If you are running late, you can call or send an email. You are far more likely to be forgiven if you warn them, and you won't come off as snotty or diva-ish. Secondly, with so much competition in the arts, mean or stuck-up people are replaceable. If you're talented but not nice, there is someone else who is just as good as you but won't make a fuss. There are always going to be people in this world who are assholes and have earned it, but you have to be really good and respected to earn that pointless right (I.e. Stephen Sondheim or better).
Post a Comment