>But there are lots of other ways–the key observation is that as long as you are right, being misunderstood by most people is a strength not a weakness. You and

>But there are lots of other ways–the key observation is that as long as you are right, being misunderstood by most people is a strength not a weakness. You and a small group of rebels get the space to solve an important problem that might otherwise not get solved. The ability to make that bet and be right (unless you just flipped a coin), took some skills or insight, and that likely took effort and time, but then that only bought you space which probably should have been granted in the first place. Even junior developers get some space to work. Now you've done all that work just to be able to work on the problem and you now have to deliver, which may or may not be easier than the initial bet. If it's easier, you've just fought an unnecessary battle to be able to do something you know you can do. How many other unnecessary battles are you going to have to fight? This seems like it gets in the way of progress more than anything. I don't want to be misunderstood in this way. If they misunderstand, one or both of us has messed up. Maybe I need more or better proof, or maybe I need to explain it better, or maybe it's the other side who needs to do more work. There's definitely a strength in being misunderstood, but it's not about moving ahead (getting space), it's about finding out who you shouldn't be working with. This is sometimes a very hard signal to get.