The vicious cycle of criticism

On one hand, we lament the lack of creativity in Singapore, yet on the other, we complain about the stupid things Singaporeans can come up with. For instance, someone comes up with a new concept (like developing battery-powered bicycles to replace cars), there will be others who will criticize the idea (saying its stupid; its wasting more money; might as well reduce the numbers of cars/increase roads, go think of how to increase the employment rate instead.. blah blah etc).

While it is true that criticism does helped to improve the final design (sometimes), no one seemed to understand its negative effects. To get someone to even try to do something different is already a difficult thing. When someone finally drums up the courage to do something, he gets this sort of criticism. Its not easy to stand up to criticism all the time. Especially in collectivist societies, where "face" is an important element to social status.

This creates a sort of disincentive for individuals to pursue their dreams for fear that it may be stupid. After all, the creator himself will never know whether it is feasible until he tries it out. But this pervasive fear of "standing out from the crowd" may poses barriers to entry for those who are really passionate.

The effects are not just limited to the creators. "Potential ideas" may be lost due to the fear of being labelled as "another attention-seeking attempt". Then no one will dare to do something different (that may prove to be something useful in the future). So who loses out in the end? Probably everyone.

So how do we get out of it?

Honestly I have no idea as well. There are a few options though.

1) people become more resilient to criticism/failures,
2) don't criticise (or rather positive criticism)

The 1st option is probably hard, considering that "face" has been researched by psychologists as being part of our cultural distinction. To ask a Chinese to do something that might potentially lose "face" is probably not easy.

Option 2 will require the support of the majority of the population. Personally, this is equally hard, considering that Singaporeans are known for being "complainers". Phrases like "This thing not good, that thing can be improved" probably sounds familiar to all of us. To ask everyone to support "creative attempts" is akin to asking one to take a plunge outside the comfort zone. Not everyone is going to do it in the end.

Promoting creativity

The culture must be changed. Not many people dare to risk being different. But when they do, what they really wished would be some support to give them the confidence to carry on. And I think that is what we really need.

An environment that is not so critical of the things people do.

But that does not mean no criticism at all is good. Positive criticism works so much better than saying things like "this kind of student deserve to lose his job to FT; this is probably the most stupid idea; I can't imagine our world-class university nurtures people like this."

Just like the million social issues we have around the world, this is not going to be easily resolved. People can't change overnight. So I guess its going to take sometime before our society does change.

Till that time, good luck to all the "potential creators" =)