In a recent article from the Harvard Business Review,  Philip Auerswald (@auerswald) states, “If you’re not pissing someone off, it’s probably not innovation.” He likes this response when asked what innovation is because, if it doesn’t end the conversation, it usually shifts it from definitions to dynamics — which is what innovation is all about, after all. But he also likes it because it captures one fundamental obstacle to innovation that all would-be disruptors must be prepared to face: the potentially hostile response of incumbents who don’t want to see their market advantages threatened.

Auerswald quotes the late famous economist and Harvard professor Joseph Schumpeter who said,

“To undertake such new things is difficult and constitutes a distinct economic function, first because they lie outside the routine tasks which everyone understands and, secondly, because the environment resists in many ways that will vary, according to social conditions, from simple refusal either to finance or buy a new thing, to physical attack on the man who tries to produce it.”

Here are 7 tips Auerswald gave on overcoming the nay-sayers:

1. Say what you do -- manage expectations and revisit them frequently

2. Use trails

3. Do what you say

4. Perpetually delight customers

5. Embrace social networks and go deep

6. Value transparency but protect privacy

7. Deal with negative publicity and feedback promptly and skillfully

I couldn’t agree more. There is no way to please everyone in a market, for there are just far too many people with different views on business. If no one made innovative changes, we would still be using candles as our light source or using telegraphs to communicate with one-another. You will get resistance from many people who fear your services will make theirs obsolete, which is okay! As long as your business model is strong and your customers believe in your “cause,” you will be successful in today’s competitive business climate.

Read Source Article at Harvard Business Review