You've heard it all before.
No matter how good your idea is, no matter that customers are crying out for it, and no matter that you have the ability and the capacity to create it, there's always someone who's dying to tell you that, "It'll never work!" Naysaying, for some, is a career.
But, why should you let them pour water on your parade? I know someone who will tell you that she has a problem, and no matter what you say, if it has the faintest trace of a solution in it, she will reply, "but the problem is...
" She, like many others, are glass-half-empty, if-anything-can-go-wrong-it-will or should-have folks who have lost hope and want to do all they can to ensure that others lose theirs as well.
What a dull place our world would be without them.
We simply wouldn't have anyone to whom we could say, "You're wrong.
We did it!" If you are unavoidably around people who think like this, how can you prevent their cynicism from stifling your innovation? There are three ways: 1.
Play down the extent to which you expect to succeed.
This is the opposite of what most business people do.
Instead, they tell everyone how great their product will be, the miracles it will perform, the savings that many will enjoy, its remarkable efficiency, and its greenness to boot.
The general idea is that the hype is necessary to communicate excitement to those who will buy; to create buzz in the market.
2.
If you're asked about the product, be honest, but stick to the facts.
Leave out the hyperbole.
Forget the emotional embellishments.
Remember Sergeant Joe Friday? Just the facts ma'am.
3.
Don't tell the cynics what you are doing.
There's no reason for them to know, is there? You already know what they're going to say.
And then you'll have to waste your time and energy justifying to them something you already believe in.
Wouldn't it make more sense to just leave them out of the equation altogether.
Ah, but I hear you ask, "Won't they be offended?" Probably.
But, so what? Aren't you offended by their constant whining about the fact that everything you're doing won't work? If they ask you, "Why didn't you tell me?", then revert back to number one.
"We weren't sure if it would work.
" It will take the wind right out of their sails.
No matter how good your idea is, no matter that customers are crying out for it, and no matter that you have the ability and the capacity to create it, there's always someone who's dying to tell you that, "It'll never work!" Naysaying, for some, is a career.
But, why should you let them pour water on your parade? I know someone who will tell you that she has a problem, and no matter what you say, if it has the faintest trace of a solution in it, she will reply, "but the problem is...
" She, like many others, are glass-half-empty, if-anything-can-go-wrong-it-will or should-have folks who have lost hope and want to do all they can to ensure that others lose theirs as well.
What a dull place our world would be without them.
We simply wouldn't have anyone to whom we could say, "You're wrong.
We did it!" If you are unavoidably around people who think like this, how can you prevent their cynicism from stifling your innovation? There are three ways: 1.
Play down the extent to which you expect to succeed.
This is the opposite of what most business people do.
Instead, they tell everyone how great their product will be, the miracles it will perform, the savings that many will enjoy, its remarkable efficiency, and its greenness to boot.
The general idea is that the hype is necessary to communicate excitement to those who will buy; to create buzz in the market.
2.
If you're asked about the product, be honest, but stick to the facts.
Leave out the hyperbole.
Forget the emotional embellishments.
Remember Sergeant Joe Friday? Just the facts ma'am.
3.
Don't tell the cynics what you are doing.
There's no reason for them to know, is there? You already know what they're going to say.
And then you'll have to waste your time and energy justifying to them something you already believe in.
Wouldn't it make more sense to just leave them out of the equation altogether.
Ah, but I hear you ask, "Won't they be offended?" Probably.
But, so what? Aren't you offended by their constant whining about the fact that everything you're doing won't work? If they ask you, "Why didn't you tell me?", then revert back to number one.
"We weren't sure if it would work.
" It will take the wind right out of their sails.
Source...