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"Critical Training"
Hi everyone,
I’m planning a new training course for TV talent show judges!
In case you’ve missed them, there’s a new breed of TV shows doing the rounds at the moment. The formula is very simple. You pick a talent, such as pop singing or dancing or ice-skating, and then invite members of the public to come to an audition to show off their skills with the promise of a big prize for the winner.
In the early stages of the contest, a team of so-called experts decides who should go through. In the final stages, the selection is made by the experts and the viewing public who can vote for who they like either by phone or Internet.
Recently here in the UK, we’ve had variations of this format used on contests as diverse as operatic singing, ballroom dancing, ice-skating, cooking for the Queen, gardening, becoming an apprentice to a top tycoon, and probably many more I’ve missed.
Now don’t get me wrong. These kinds of shows are often very entertaining. In fact, their predecessors have probably been a feature of TV entertainment since the year dot.
But, as a training and development expert, I have a few little worries.
First, I worry at the way these shows encourage people to judge one another. As someone who has spent most of my professional career training people to appreciate not judge, I wince at the sometimes cruel condemnations handed out to contestants. It reminds me of Theodore Roosevelt’s wonderful quote that, "It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbled or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena; who strives valiantly; who, at the best, knows the triumph of high achievement; and who, at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly."
My second worry is that some people with clearly no talent are being maliciously encouraged just so that they can be cruelly put down later. The theory seems to be that it makes good TV regardless of the effect on people’s self-esteem.
My final worry is that these shows deliberately foster a climate of competition between contestants so that they are more like a gladiatorial contest than a celebration of talent.
That’s why, in my perfect and slightly tongue-in-cheek world, no person would be allowed to sit as a judge on a TV talent show unless they had first completed my “Critical Appreciation” training course. (And, of course, been assessed!)
This course would give TV show judges a high level of competence in constructive feedback, a high level of competence in appraisal skills, and an acceptance of the following 3 principles:
1. Everybody is uniquely gifted at something – even if it’s not what they’re currently doing.
2. The real competition in people’s lives is not in comparing themselves with others, but in comparing themselves with the best of what they are capable of.
3. “Judge not that ye be not judged.”
I would also make it compulsory that every participant on my course would read, understand and inwardly digest the following delightful story that is what excelling is really all about.
Several years ago, a world-famous tenor had been booked to appear at a Paris opera house. The performance was a sell-out. However, just before the curtain rose, the house manager took the stage and announced that, due to a throat infection, the star could not appear. Instead, they had found a replacement at short notice.
The audience groaned in disappointment. The name of the stand-in was hardly noticed.
The stand-in gave the performance of his life. At the end, there was an uncomfortable silence as he stepped forward to take his bow. No one applauded.
Then from an upstairs balcony, a boy shouted out: “Well done, Dad! I thought you were great!”
Within a few seconds, the silence of the auditorium was broken with thunderous and genuine applause.
Happy TV viewing and happy training!
Eric