<story><title>The Book He Wasn&apos;t Supposed to Write</title><url>https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2017/08/the-secret-life-of-a-book-manuscript/536982/?single_page=true</url></story><parent_chain></parent_chain><comment><author>nkoren</author><text>I had a similar experience, which was more concise and, for me personally, more transformative.&lt;p&gt;My career as an architect had reached a point where I knew it wasn&amp;#x27;t going to satisfy my life goals. I needed to understand more about finance, innovation theory, management, etc. I needed an MBA -- not a bullshit one for the title, but to actually learn things. I decided I&amp;#x27;d go to Oxford.&lt;p&gt;This was going to be challenging: I had neither the funds to pay for it nor the shiniest academic record. Good GMAT scores, but not much else. The admissions essay had to be a knock-out.&lt;p&gt;So I wrote something I thought was amazing, and was preparing to submit it, when I realised: &lt;i&gt;wait a second, I need some more eyeballs on this.&lt;/i&gt;&lt;p&gt;I looked around the coffeehouse where I sat. There was a guy there -- I wasn&amp;#x27;t sure of his name, but he was a regular. A philosophy student (part time? dropout?) of uncertain provenance. We&amp;#x27;d had a few conversations occasionally, and he seemed bright. So I asked him, somewhat rhetorically, whether he had the time to read 4 pages and give me his feedback. He happily agreed...&lt;p&gt;...and he &lt;i&gt;hated&lt;/i&gt; it. Tore into almost every part of it. Didn&amp;#x27;t remotely grok the point I was trying to make. Made it clear that the essay failed on pretty much every level.&lt;p&gt;That was unpleasant to hear, but he was right. What mattered wasn&amp;#x27;t _my_ impression of what I&amp;#x27;d done -- it was how it impressed other people. So I rewrote the essay from the ground up, keeping his criticism at the forefront of my mind.&lt;p&gt;Oxford ended up giving me the largest scholarship they had. Afterwards I stayed in the UK and built a life there.&lt;p&gt;Don&amp;#x27;t even know that guy&amp;#x27;s name, but &lt;i&gt;damn&lt;/i&gt; am I glad he was that asshole.</text></comment>
<story><title>The Book He Wasn&apos;t Supposed to Write</title><url>https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2017/08/the-secret-life-of-a-book-manuscript/536982/?single_page=true</url></story><parent_chain></parent_chain><comment><author>jackgavigan</author><text>&lt;i&gt;&amp;gt; “Sometimes my job is to be an asshole,” he explained...&lt;/i&gt;&lt;p&gt;It&amp;#x27;s &lt;i&gt;so&lt;/i&gt; difficult to give frank, negative feedback without coming across as an asshole but, sometimes, it&amp;#x27;s necessary.&lt;p&gt;&amp;quot;Constructive&amp;quot; feedback only goes so far. Sometimes people need to be told that their work is bad, so that they can improve. Accepting mediocrity in order to avoid hurting someone&amp;#x27;s feelings is doing them a disservice in the long run.</text></comment>