You're faced with an amazing opportunity to try something new and different. Something that's never been done before. An idea that will take you or the organization to a whole new level.
You know there are risks but those risks may lead to great rewards. You know there are a million "what if" reasons why you shouldn't pursue the idea, but for every negative "what if," there are ten other positives that follow.
There will always be skeptics waiting in the wings to crush your enthusiasm and talk you out of your ideas.
My question is -- What if the skeptics are wrong?
"Everything that can be invented has been invented," -- Charles H. Duell, Commissioner, US Office of Patents, 1899.
--------------------------------------------------------
"I don't know what use any one could find for a machine that would make copies of documents. It certainly couldn't be a feasible business by itself." -- the head of IBM, refusing to back the idea, forcing the inventor to found Xerox.
--------------------------------------------------------
"The wireless music box has no imaginable commercial value. Who would pay for a message sent to nobody in particular?" -- David Sarnoff's associates in response to his urgings for investment in the radio in the 1920s.
--------------------------------------------------------
"The concept is interesting and well-formed, but in order to earn better than a 'C,' the idea must be feasible," -- A Yale University management professor in response to Fred Smith's paper proposing reliable overnight delivery service. (Smith went on to found Federal Express Corp.)
--------------------------------------------------------
"This 'telephone' has too many shortcomings to be seriously considered as a means of communication. The device is inherently of no value to us," -- Western Union internal memo, 1876.
--------------------------------------------------------
"Computers in the future may weigh no more than 1.5 tons." -- Popular Mechanics, forecasting the relentless march of science, 1949
--------------------------------------------------------
"There is no need for any individual to have a computer in their home." -- Ken Olson, 1977, President, Digital Equipment Corp.
--------------------------------------------------------
"I think there is a world market for maybe five computers." -- Thomas Watson, chairman of IBM, 1943.
--------------------------------------------------------
"I have traveled the length and breadth of this country and talked with the best people, and I can assure you that data processing is a fad that won't lastout the year." -- The editor in charge of business books for Prentice Hall, 1957.
--------------------------------------------------------
"But what ... is it good for?" -- Engineer at the Advanced Computing Systems Division of IBM, 1968, commenting on the microchip.
--------------------------------------------------------
“The abdomen, the chest, and the brain will forever be shut from the intrusion of the wise and humane surgeon.” –- Sir John Eric Ericksen, British surgeon, appointed Surgeon-Extraordinary to Queen Victoria 1873
If you have an idea for something amazing - an idea that with enough passion and perserverence will lead to something great, then don't give up. Hear the skeptics out and take their thoughts into consideration, then roll up your sleaves and get to work!
Comments