I take this particular piece of advice to mean that we shouldn't try to change what other people do. Since other people are doing what they'd like to do at any given moment, it in some ways insults them to say 'what you're doing is wrong'. Therefore, it makes sense to adapt ourselves to this person, and try to benefit from their good parts while minimizing the negative consequences.



It's also very related to the stages of getting things done. By complaining, condemning, or criticizing, you're placing the blame on other people, and not doing anything yourself to further the goal. You want other people to fix it, instead of actually doing something about it. Therefore, it's more of the 'I'm Going To Build A Tower!' stage, whereas actually fixing the problem is part of the 'Leave Me Alone - I'm Working!' stage.

However, this does pose some interesting questions. How do you bring problems to other people's attention, without it coming across as a complaint or criticism? This seems to be something that varies from person to person. Something as simple as 'When you do this, you make me feel angry' can be regarded as an expression of trust by someone close to you and builds the relationship since you're expressing your innermost feelings freely. However, by someone else, it can be regarded as an attack on their character, as if you're blaming them for their lack of sensitivity in making you feel this way.

You could not say things like that ever, but that leaves a lot of 'untouchable' areas. What if that person had unintentionally done that particular thing to anger you and it was really easy to fix? By not exploring these areas, you'll feel like you're stepping on egg shells all the time, afraid to say things for fear that they'll be taken as a criticism or complaint.

In many ways, this is almost the same problem as being the recipient of the complaint. In Be A Good Manager By Letting People Learn And Grow, the manager's criticism makes the employee feel afraid to voice his/her opinions and take initiative. However, this is ironically the same situation for the manager. You're afraid to tell people to do certain things because you're not sure if it'll be taken as a criticism and kill their motivation.

It seems like one of those things that you're bound to make a mistake on no matter what you do. Somewhere, sometime, you will offend someone by accident. I think it's how you resolve these "accidents" that makes for the interesting parts. After all, you have to say things, and some things will offend some people. It seems unrealistic to expect to never offend anyone, as pretty much anything you say will be taken as a criticism, condemnation, or complaint by someone, somewhere.

Perhaps, the fine line is that of trust. The more trust, the more likely that things will not be taken as a complaint, condemnation, or criticism and be perceived as just a statement of the problem. This would mean that with people closer to you, you can be more open with your thoughts and problems, which seems to be consistent with the general human condition.

Gaining trust and finding out which areas are untouchable though, are difficult skills to master on their own.