What if everyone says something is great, but you just don’t see it?

In this episode, I share an unexpected lesson I learned in an Intro to Fine Arts class from a famous piece of abstract art that, honestly, I couldn’t stand.

When I was assigned to compare three pieces of abstract art, one of them completely baffled me. Instead of pretending to appreciate it because it was famous, I wrote an essay explaining exactly why I didn’t think it deserved the praise.

I expected some pushback.

Instead, I got a 100%.

More importantly, my professor reinforced a lesson that has stayed with me far beyond the classroom:

Just because something is widely accepted as great doesn’t mean you have to agree.

That lesson matters at work, too. When everyone agrees a project is going well, praise ...