Don't Ignore The Value

This is probably anathema to some people, but you can get value from someone’s work or product without having to like their personality, character, or politics. This applies to companies and organisations, too.

Too often do I see someone (usually someone I don’t know, on the internet) take issue with some small facet of a person’s character, work, or interests, and then choose to disregard everything else that that person has ever said or done. I’m guilty of thinking like this sometimes too.

Sometimes the offended person will make a big scene about it and complain to the person, too. “I can’t believe that you’re supporting [insert politician or movement here]”, or “[insert activity here] is wrong!”, or whatever. We like to tell someone when we are offended because it makes us feel better.

We wouldn’t say something like that to someone if we thought they were unimportant. If some average joe has a view we disagree with, most stable people will just move on. So when we are offended enough to write a comment (or to have strong internal feelings if you’re not the comment writing kind), we’re acknowledging - even subconsciously - that this person is important.

So why would we choose to ignore the value that this person is providing, just because we disagree with some totally unrelated aspect? More likely than not, they’re doing something right if they can garner a reaction from us.

Only when there is no more value to be found, should we choose to end the relationship.

P.S. We ignore the bad behaviour of organizations often without choosing to boycott them. Amazon has been said to treat it’s workers badly, but we still love next day shipping. Nike was notorious for their human rights treatment in 90s, and that didn’t stop us wearing their trainers. They provide value to us, so we’re willing to overlook the unsavoury aspects. Why should it be any different for individuals, whom often commit far more benign offences?