I saw a quote this morning that got me thinking:
“It is better to be hated for what you are than loved for what you are not.”― André GideI thought of Oo Nwoye's comment on the Digital Drift podcast on criticism. He said that he prefers honest criticism to fake praises. I almost gave him a virtual high five for that statement.African techies have to leave the praise singing for the traditional praise singers and musicians as it serves no purpose in tech. Not one website or app in the world is powered by praise of sycophants but by honest users who have a need.Seth Godin mentioned in his last blog post: "I don't take pitches to be on my blog, and no one can pay me to endorse them. I don't directly own private or public equity in companies I write about, except for Squidoo.com, which I founded, and use because I like what we built, not because I'm trying to persuade you to use it."We need to develop a culture of giving and taking honest criticism for this young African tech ecosystem to grow and thrive. Brutal honesty is not hatred, it is "feedback". We must learn to take the good, the bad and the ugly as we mature.