Why complaining is good

The Australians call us (the British)  whinging Poms and perhaps they have a point. You'll hear plenty of people moaning about almost any topic you care to mention, on any day of the week.

However, I'd like you to consider that complaining and whinging may be a good thing......if you follow through and do it the right way. This is not a "how to" piece on getting the best from your local store when you go and complain about some shoddy goods, no, it's a bit deeper than that.

If you can complain about something, anything, then it means that you you are in some way comparing the position you find yourself in with some other better version.

Let me explain, you don't complain about gravity, gravity just is. Your pen rolling off the desk and dropping on the floor may be annoying, but you still don't complain about gravity. In fact, at the weekend you choose to play with gravity, when you play golf or football. You use it just as it is, there is no point complaining about it, as there is no gravity free alternative.

Contrast this with a golf ball that splits the first time you hit it. You paid good money for the ball and yet it seems that it must be defective to split after being hit just the one time. You probably have a model in mind of how many golf games or holes a ball should be good for and when you compare that with what you have, you complain.

The essence of the complaint, is the difference between your expectation of the product or service and what actually is delivered. But knowing what that difference is gives us the ability to look at ways of bridging the gap.

We can look at better plastics to cover the golf ball, we can suggest to the product manufacturer, ways in which their product can be improved. Knowing that there is a difference between our expectations and our current outcome provides the clues that can drive positive change.

So as you moan or complain today, reflect on how that difference could be bridged and then set about doing it.