The way change occurs to begin with, if you come up with a good idea, like heathcare, you're ignored. If you go on you must be mad, absolutely stark-staring bonkers. If you go on after that you're dangerous. Then, if the pressure keeps up there's a pause. And then you can't find anyone at the top who doesn't claim to have thought of it in the first place. That's how progress is made.
About this quote
- What does it mean?
- Progress faces resistance at first, then skepticism, then danger, before finally being accepted as inevitable.
- In plain terms
- New ideas are ignored, mocked, and opposed before they are adopted.
- What can you take from it?
- Persist through initial resistance when advocating change.
Where it applies
Putting it to work
Questions to consider
- How do you know when to quit?
- Who benefits from maintaining the status quo?
Another view
Not all ideas deserve persistence if they are harmful.
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