Good ideas on how to defend your good ideas from the inevitable attacks

I very much liked the interview of Prof. John Kotter in the Harv. Bus. Rev., Oct. 2010, at 129. He outlines lessons from his latest book about why good ideas suffer withering attacks and often succumb.

The short piece made me realize that a creative idea popping up in a legal department means nothing unless it is translated into meaningful and advantageous change. To the point of the interview, the new idea almost always has to run a gauntlet of critics and nay-sayers. Change climbs a steep and rocky path and good ideas often stumble or tumble off.

This blog offers plenty of thoughts on creativity and others on implementation (See my post of Oct. 29, 2006: creativity with 11 references, Sept. 26, 2009: creativity with 13 references and 2 metaposts; Dec. 16, 2005: innovation with 7 references; and Oct. 4, 2009: innovation with 20 references.). It offers fewer thoughts on over-coming resistance. Everything in the trade press boasts triumphs, never suffocation of fresh ideas.