Why Great Ideas Get Rejected [and How to Prevent Rejection] David Burkus, 99U

Please note the final sentence (highlighted) in this synopsis of the article by Burkus:

Have you ever debuted an exciting new idea to the world only to receive a lukewarm or even highly critical response? Well, get used to it. Mounting evidence shows that we all possess an inherent bias against creativity. The good news is there's something we can do about it.

Burkus writes:

[R]ejections can leave us wondering what we did wrong or why others just couldn't appreciate our creative idea. Fortunately, recent research in human psychology is finally shedding some light on how our brains accept (or reject) new ideas.

He then describes research on two reasons ideas get rejected:

Creativity requires an element of novelty.

For a work to be truly creative, it has to depart from the status quo at some point. That departure makes many people uncomfortable. Despite our oft-stated desire for more creativity, we also hold a stronger desire for certainty and structure. When that certainty is challenged, a bias against creativity develops. ...

Novelty provokes uncertainty. ...

Following up on those research findings, Burkus explains that the most likely culprit for the rejection of creative ideas is the uncertainty of people when they hear about the idea, not the idea itself.

Thus, he writes:

[C]rafting your pitch to maximize certainty should improve the odds of the idea being accepted. You can do this in a variety of ways.

And they are:

• Reaffirming what the client or your manager knows is true about their project should prime them to be more accepting of novel ideas.
• Connecting the idea to more familiar ideas, such as previous successful projects or similar works, will also increase the odds that your idea will be seen as practical and desirable.
• Lastly, try leading clients toward your idea with a series of statements they agree with and then pitching your idea as if it's theirs. ...

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This article is featured in today's (Aug. 9) Garbl's Creativity Connections--available at the Creativity tab above and by free email subscription.