I loved this Quora Q&A with Jimmy Wales. Here’s the question:

How does Jimmy Wales feel about his detractors?

I’ve noticed that there is a possy [sic] of Jimmy Wales detractors on Quora and elsewhere. There’s even a ‘news’ site which seems to specialise in negative stories about him.

Obviously, in business you can’t make friends of everyone, and no-one in business is a saint. So, I’m sure there’s always going to be a few disgruntled individuals, but some people in particular seem to be obsessed with doing him down.

What’s the best strategy for dealing with these kinds of difficult interactions?

Here’s Jimmy’s reply:

I’m always open to valid criticism. This is particularly true when it is offered in a constructive way and especially in a way that is actionable by me to make some improvement. “Jimmy Wales is stupid” – nothing I can do about that. “Jimmy Wales should do X” – ok, maybe I should, let’s talk about it.

Some people are just lunatics, though. I find it best to simply ignore them. For some of them, I feel bemusement that they spend – as far as I can tell – most of their spare time obsessing about me. What better way to deal with a nutcase, than to let him waste his life?

Clearly, I need to adopt that perspective on the Premise Peckers! They richly deserve it.

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