How do we find that balance between listening and responding to others, while at the same time realizing that if all we are doing is responding, then we aren’t innovating – we’re back to tending those crops again. While it isn’t always the case, I find that the more resistance I face to an idea or (gasp!) a CHANGE in how something is done, the closer I am to finding a better, more powerful way to do something.
Of course, if everyone hates it, then maybe I’m a bit off. But one out of ten isn’t always a failing grade. If one person (or one small tribe of people) latches on to an idea, or a tool, or a way of thinking – and each of them bats one out of ten, that’s called steady growth.
As an old friend advised me years ago, “10%” doesn’t tell you anything. The question to ask is, “10% of what?” Would you rather have 100% of nothing or 10% of a million?