Unless you do something, listening is a waste of time

Image via WikipediaListening is hard. It's easier to ignore and rationalize. What's harder though is learning from those conversations and applying what you've learned. The real reason? People don't like change. It scares them.

Dave Winer's recent article - If you never listen you never learn - makes this point. He also offers an anecdote where they listened to one suggestion from one user "and company went from being in the brink of shutting down to gushing cash".

Yes, if you listen you can learn, but unless you're willing to do something about it, its a wasted effort.