Thin-Skinned “Experts”

I have an opinion (or two) (or three) about things.

I am not in short supply of these opinions.

Before the Internet and Social Media, there was a relatively small audience for my opinions; the coffee chat at work, the buddies at the bar, or the dog (who always seemed to be in agreement).

Once I had a blogging platform however, it was like I had won the lottery.

I could share my opinions with the rest of the world.

They could learn from my experience and wisdom.

The world would be a better place because I shared my thoughts.

… or so I thought.

As it turned out, I didn’t have the corner on the market of ultimate wisdom.

While some people agreed with me, others had the audacity to… (can you believe this?) … disagree.

Now I’m not talking about the “YOU SUCK!!!” comments. Those are easy to disregard. As the song goes “Haters gonna hate, hate, hate, hate, hate.”

I’m talking about the commenters that made a compelling case for the opposite point of view. Some were even providing evidence that I may actually be wrong.

What happened next told me a whole lot about myself.

· What kind of person am I when I’m challenged in my thinking?

· Do I like what I see? And hear? And read?

· How did I respond (once I calmed down)?

· Did I quickly decide they were all idiots and write them off?

· Did I decide to quit that particular social media site because everybody should get along (as long as it’s my opinion that’s prevalent)?

· Did I attack them (and their opinions) online?

· Or did I realize that as bright as I think I might be, I may be… umm… (this is hard to say)… wrong.

· Or maybe I’m not wrong, but haven’t considered all the options?

· Or perhaps my thinking works only for a particular context?

Being thin-skinned does not work in politics, and it certainly doesn’t work if you want to get the full experience of an online community.

So… instead of attacking, I engage.

If my viewpoint is so right, and so important, then I should be able to defend it on its own merit, not by demeaning the opposing view.

We challenge ideas, not people.

We may come to the point where we agree to disagree, but we have learned something.

In beBee, we have the opportunity to engage around ideas, to engage in grown up conversations around opposing viewpoints, to take a thought stream and expand on it.

We also have the power to keep out the haters, trolls and scammers.

It’s our community. Let’s keep it that way.

So let’s put on our big-boy and big-girl pants and start posting, commenting, and engaging.

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Image: MS Office Imagebank

Note: A version of this post has been previously published by the author on LinkedIn.

About the Author:

I'm the Chief Information Officer for Appleby College, in Oakville, Ontario Canada, where my team is transforming the delivery of education through innovative application of technology.

I'm convinced that IT leadership needs to dramatically change how IT is delivered rather than being relegated to a costly overhead department.

In addition to transforming IT in my role as CIO, I look for every opportunity to talk about this... writing, speaking and now blogging on BeBee (https://www.bebee.com/@kevin-pashuk) , LinkedIn, ITWorld Canada, or at TurningTechInvisible.com.

I also shoot things... with my camera. Check out my photostream at www.flickr.com/photos/kwpashuk

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