Great Ideas Are Polarizing
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Are you proposing a new idea to change your department? Are you considering a way(s) to revamp your function or organization? Maybe you have an idea for a new venture?
How do you tell if your idea is good, or great?
One way is to observe the types of reactions you get to it.
Do people love it? Hate it? Or do you just get a lukewarm, "yeah, that's interesting..."?
If it's a lukewarm response, that's a problem. If it's love or hate, then maybe you should get excited.
Because great ideas - ideas that move the needle, that transform, that change - are polarizing.
People either love them or hate them. There's typically no in-between, no muddled wavering around which side of the spectrum you fall on.
That's because great ideas challenge us. They force us to think differently. They push us out of our comfort zone, away from what we believe to be conventional wisdom and the "acknowledged path forward".
And as a result, we either react with excitement - "this will change the world!" - or with distrust and skepticism - "no one will buy that!".
With the former view, we're open to the possibilities, to the opportunities, to the impact.
With the latter, perhaps we're forced to confront (or we don't want to confront) the fact that things will change. That we need to change. That perhaps we're not as open as we should be.
The Beatles.
JK Rowling.
PCs on every desk.
Online commerce.
The Internet.
Great ideas are polarizing.
If you're reacting negatively to the idea, ask yourself why. Is it the idea? Or is it what the idea represents to what you know and are comfortable with?
And if it's your idea, consider that - even in the face of this kind of opposition - maybe, just maybe, you're on to something.
