2005/05/18 Be positive!

And then they stop.

Perhaps they're simply trying to kill anything new to make sure they don't get knocked out of their comfort zone. Perhaps they genuinely believe that new ideas should be tested to destruction. Whatever the reason, some people are unremittingly negative.

That kills innovation.

Don't get me wrong, new ideas need to be examined from all sides. I've learned from personal experience that business proposals need to be tested in the fires of relentless criticism and nay-saying. But when a review is entirely negative, the target will either give up, or will ignore what might prove to be valuable advice.

Strive to be balanced. In any idea find the good points as well as the potential problems. Maybe the proposal you're facing has got fatal flaws, but maybe there's the germ of a world-changing idea or invention that you're missing.

See if you can find it.

Quotation from Tim Berners-Lee