This has been on my mind for the past several years.  It's not a big deal, but something that has been nagging me ever so slowly -- like the slow dripping/tapping sound rainwater makes when it creeps over the side of a clogged rain gutter.

I'm talking about people constantly asking for feedback.  Your free feedback.

You hear it everywhere.  Just try and cancel a credit card or cell phone plan and you will be dumped over to some mid-level supervisor in Mumbai asking why it is that you decided to cancel. And of course, how could they improve so that their company can do better.

Look at all of these "social networking" web sites and you will see feedback forms, comment boxes, "Was this article helpful to you?" buttons, and “How can we improve?” widget thingys.

Supervisors barge into office meetings and ask employees for free feedback that improves their reports, tightens up their market performance presentations, and fuels task team implementations.  In short: it helps them improve their bottom line.  It helps them get higher bonuses.  It does little or nothing for you.

This entire ‘give us your feedback!’ mania is out of control. 

Something for nothing?

You see, I still believe that we live in a world where you don't get something for nothing; a world in which you earn that which brings value to you.  And you certainly don't assume and take from other people without providing them with compensation.  Simply taking from people is not a nice thing.  Whether you get robbed at gunpoint or simply have your precious time stolen because of yet another silly feedback form to complete before you can be allowed to leave.  Yeah, your opinions are valued.  Just not enough to actually pay you for them besides the usual GO TEAM, GO!

I wasn’t kidding about that cell phone feedback example mentioned above.  I recently canceled my AT&T wireless account.  They wanted to know how they could improve and wasted 30 minutes of my time closing the account, and then another 8 minutes getting a supervisor on the line.  Instead of quickly and respectfully just cancelling the account, they EXPECTED me to provide them with free feedback.  I told them I would be happy to.  My standard fee for all-important customer feedback to help improve their company was $85.00 per hour.  Um, and before we start, what address shall I send my invoice to?  The supervisor was not amused.

There's nothing inherently wrong with asking others how one can improve.  I’m guilty as charged also. Seeking feedback for improvement is a great thing. But it needs to be discrete, subtle, and without any obligation whatsoever.  Like all things in life, it should be done in moderation.  And you sure as hell ought to offer something back to the person who has provided you with that free and useful information.

Not spending oodles of time providing all sorts of feedback can be hard.  Especially for flight attendants.  Flight attendants are the Feedback Gods of the Skies.  You know what I’m talking about.

Time to unplug again?

Some years back, I tried an experiment: I went an entire year (365 days to be exact) to see how my life would change if I completely unplugged from the news media in every aspect.  For an entire year, I didn’t read a single newspaper, scan a single headline in a crew van, watch a single second of CNN, and played my iPod (it was actually called a Walkman back then, kids) so I wouldn’t have to hear the news blaring incessantly from the airport terminal TVs.  During that year, I really couldn’t tell you who was doing what to whom in the White House.  I had no idea who died in whatever foreign country.  And amazingly, I had no idea what gas station had the cheapest price of gasoline.

At the end of the year, I examined how things had changed for me.  I would love to tell you that I found my soul.  But that wasn’t the case.  The reality is far more inspirational: I discovered that I really wasn’t affected either way.  In short, it really didn’t matter that I didn’t spend hours focusing my attention on all of those news stories throughout the year. 

And that’s exactly why it blew my mind: it didn’t make any difference.  Of course, there was one major side effect: my time.  I suddenly had more time to spend doing things for myself and less time thinking about Paris Hilton or whomever.  I did learn to create web pages and stuff -- and JSN is a byproduct of that period.

So now, I may try this again for a few months---only with free feedback.  Instead of providing free feedback at every second I can to help improve their businesses, I’ll spend it on myself for a change.  I have a certain event that I’ll need to tend to shortly.

Think I’m weird?  Well, then, yeah, get in the back of the line.  But seriously, look around you and notice how often you will be asked for your opinion.  You just won’t be paid for it or compensated in any manner whatsoever.  True axiom: Money talks and, well you know the rest.

Envision no free feedback of any kind: positive, negative, or otherwise.

Imagine if everyone did that? 

People would probably start to value each other a whole lot more.