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January 13, 2003
Contrary opinions
By QBlog in Miscellaneous
One of the primary things you'll hear in Quixtar is that you should look to the winners. If you have questions about the business or how to succeed then simply look at those who are successful and learn from their triumphs and mistakes. At the same time they mention that examining the "losers" is a bad idea because they don't teach you anything except how to lose. By losers, they generally (but not always) mean those who have something negative to say about Quixtar. People who have "failed" at the business are not deserving of your time or ears.
This actually makes sense and I don't have much problem with the logic behind it except for one point ... it discounts ALL contrary voices as those of losers and unworthy of your time. Anyone who says that you should never listen to other opinions seems to have something to hide. Enron would love for you to never listen to those who have something negative to say about their business practices. Does that mean that the naysayers are losers without the ability to see or speak the truth? We could also list WorldCom (a business affiliate of Quixtar), Martha Stewart or any number of "Pyramid Schemes" (Quixtar is not a pyramid, just using examples here folks) would love to have you never listen to contrary opinions.
My point is that voices of opposition can often be extremely valuable. Don't shrug them off or dismiss them as losers but instead try to discern which voices (pro or con) are actually telling the truth. People lie. People in Quixtar lie. People out of Quixtar lie. Don't trust anyone. Depend upon yourself to find the truth and learn to filter out the crap from the good stuff.