It is really funny the way things happen once you have identified a certain trend; the tendence to always portray the "good", and neglect to acknowledge the bad. Just after writing yesterday's blog about the negative never being expressed, ie. always answering that you are good, even when you're not, another example of this reared it's ugly head.

I do a different Chinese lesson each week, and last week's lesson was not of a high quality, in my opinion. It was unrealistically large, and the phrases were scattered in no apparent order; seemingly no structure at all. Very messy.

Anyway, my friend Bob and I are learning together, and we pay about $7000 for the course. It turns out that Bob was just as unhappy with last week's lesson as I was, except he actually decided to mention it to the owner.

It is important to note here that every single week we go in there for our lessons, the owner and other staff members hound us constantly for feedback, asking us if we are liking it and getting along okay. This week was no different, and the owner of the business asked Bob how he was getting along with the lessons.

Bob told her that he was very disappointed with this week's lesson. In total denial, the owner then presumed to accuse the Chinese tutor of "doing something" to Bob. He corrected her, that the tutor was not the problem, that the actual lesson material was pathetic; being unnecessarily large and having no structure, and that it is not a very good way to learn.

To our total surprise, the owner pat Bob on the shoulder like a school boy who had just been teased, and responded with a sarcastic, "Aww diddums". She then turned and walked away.

So, after 14 weeks of enthusiastically seeking feedback for the course material, it seems the only feedback she was actually interested in was the type that told her everything was good. She was completely disinterested in hearing genuine feedback, that if handled correctly, could assist in the improvement of her product.

This kind of behaviour not only supports my theory of the world never wanting to hear the bad, but also supports my idea that the world is run by idiots. What sort of educated manager would treat a well-paying customer in this way? And what sort of successful business person would handle the receipt of constructive criticism from a well-paying customer in this way? Even if she does (and she obviously does) think she is right and everyone else is wrong, where has the common courtesy toward a paying customer disintegrated to?

From my studies, and from (un)common sense, I have always believed that no matter how hard it is to be told that something you have created is bad, you need to be strong and mature, and use that feedback to improve your product. Every piece of feedback counts and is important, because if one person has highlighted some problem, there is a good chance others feel the same way.

Bob and I are both very disappointed, not so much in the lesson, but in the response to the negative feedback. It was unprofessional on so many levels; the attitude, the behaviour... she would have been better pulling Bob aside and asking him to write up his thoughts on paper so that at the next lesson they could take the time to discuss it in private. But no, she decided to make a mockery of Bob in front of other staff and customers.

This resulted in a very unhappy customer, and could potentially lose the language learning company some business.

This is a really good example of how NOT to manage a business.

The mistake this manager has made with her response, is that she is forgetting that "language" itself is not a saleable product, only the particular software they use is. This means that we can learn the language free elsewhere, or at a fraction of the cost if we want to buy some software. There are choices beyond what she is offering for such a huge cost, and she is forgetting that.

We will see what the future has to hold for our relationship with this business.