Complications of Shel Israel and Loren Feldman's Flap

I was just going to leave this as a comment on Social Times, but my thought process got too complex (part of the fun of being old is the ability to see shades of grey) so here goes:

Loren Feldman is often funny. Shel Israel is a friend. Recently, these facts of my life are causing me discomfort. And while I thought I could resolve it emotionally for myself using easy judgments, I find it’s much more complicated than I thought.

My first instinct was to say, “that jerk Loren Feldman, creating humor at someone’s expense. Especially my friend Shel, whom I know means well, and is feeling his way into a new job.”

That’s the mother in me. Now here’s the former film critic: “well, arguably these videos suck. If I were reviewing them like a film, I’d say so. Does it serve a purpose for Shel (none in it for me either way) if I don’t say it?”

My mom used to tell me, “if you can’t say anything nice, don’t say anything.” I have never believed that, or I would never have become a professor, a film critic, an entrepreneur, an investor, or a coach. So I believe it is important to deliver constructive criticism.

And that’s the issue. Constructive. When Katie Couric took over the 6 PM News, every critic thought she sucked. It was pretty cruel, but she took it well, and she began tinkering with the show. Whether I agree or disagree with what she has done, she didn’t whine, and she did something.

I take it Shel is going to do the same, although he had an unfortunate lapse before making that decision. My heart goes out for him, because I’m sure he feels crushed.

Loren got a few laughs and page views. But no one fell in love with Loren after the way he conducted himself either. Stowe Boyd is right; schadenfreude is great until it is turned on you.

Now I really get partial. The best performer in all of this is my other friend, Robert Scoble, who is everybody’s friend. He has perhaps endangered his new venture by standing by Shel, but he has done it. He comes from the heart.

I love and respect people who come from the heart. I guess that’s where I come out on all of this. Perhaps because I’ve just subscribed to Valley Zen.

More from Stealthmode

• The Importance of User Experience
• Mad Men and Doc Searls: The Woman's View
• More on the Fierce Urgency of Now
• Bloggers and Politics
• Rocky, Scoble's producer, "protects" the first Tesla

Stealthmode Recommends

• The Return of Rynoweb (rYnoweb)
• The First and Only Rule of Social Media for Salesmen (Chris Conrey)
• Experimenting with Gmail Filters: Follow Up and Results (Chris Conrey)