A "frustrated employee" asks

I am done very well in my career so far. But I have hit a roadblock. My Boss does not seem to understand me. I have taken a number of ideas to him but he never seems to latch on to any of them. It seems like I have hit a glass ceiling. What should I do?

My take:

I can understand your frustration. It is NOT fun when you put your heart into some idea and then it is blocked by something that is not under your control.

I am making an assumption here that what you are telling is the "truth." Please don't get me wrong - there is no reason for you to not tell the truth.  However, sometimes when you gain resistance to one of your ideas from outside, you tend to think that the only thing that is wrong is "the resistance." If only that resistance could be eliminated, the idea would flourish. Just a reminder that this is rarely the case and "the ability to execute" trumps "the ability to come up ideas" by a wide margin.

[ Read: Life Beyond Code - Help! Someone stole my idea! ]

So, just in case you have not done this, please pitch the same idea to someone other than your Boss - someone who can provide an objective feedback on the idea.

Note: Please don't pitch to "Yes Men" - who will get excited on any and all ideas.

When you pitch to the other people, please "listen" carefully to what they say and what they don't say. The signal that you want to look out for is a reaction that would show you that they are thinking - "This is so obvious, why have they not done it already..."

If you don't get those reactions from people that you trust, it is a good idea to take your idea back to the drawing board again. Your Boss was right to not give enough attention to it.

Now, let us take the case that your ideas are REALLY good but you are still not going anywhere. Then there a few possibilities:

1. Your Boss does not trust YOU enough: Your ideas may be the best, but you have to sell yourself first. Have you got the "permission" to give those ideas?

2. You don't have a powerful history of making things happen: Your past history is NOT an indicator of a future performance but it has a strong bearing how people perceive you. Build a rich history that makes it difficult for people to ignore you.

3. The Idea is NOT very important as compared to alternatives available; Ideas are never evaluated in isolation. There may be dozen other ideas in play and at this very particular moment, your idea may not stack up against other available alternatives.

4. Your Boss does not like you: Likeability is a filter that can change the color of what you say. However touchy-feely it might sound, pay attention to your likeability. It is a silent weapon that can help or hurt

5. Your Boss is busy: Your idea is very important to you but the timing of mentioning it is equally important. If there are burning issues that needs your Boss' attention, your idea will get pushed down to the bottom of the priority list.

6. You don't know how to sell your idea: Ideas are not something that are typically bought for their face value. They have to be packaged and sold. It is outside the purview of this post to cover "how to sell an idea" but there is enough literature out there on that topic.

7. Your boss is a jerk: Don't go there without evaluating and thinking through all the other options. Blaming your boss is the easiest way to shy away from responsibility and/or feel victimized.

Wish you the very best and may your ideas FLY!!!

Related reading:

1. Life Beyond Code: Three Stages of an Idea

2. Fee Book: Beyond Code (foreword by Tom Peters) - Please read chapter on Likeability

3. Life Beyond Code: Stop worrying about your idea and start focusing on execution

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More about Rajesh Setty
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