When I was younger, about 13, I went to my dad's place of work (a software company - what else?) where I witnessed an argument between two developers over the way their product should move forward. After a while their manager, who was sitting and listening, made a decision and the argument was over. I didn't really understand what it was about. However, what really amazed me was that the decision was made at all - how could the manager know which way is better? Neither was tried and both required quite a lot of effort to even be tested. When I asked my dad about it, he said "that guy (that won) sold his idea better".
At that tender age this struck me as totally unfair. What do you mean "sold his idea better"?! They were both developers! What's selling your idea has to do with it? Either your idea is right or wrong. - and if it's wrong, no amount of talking would help you.
Moral of the story: You've got to be able to sell your ideas, otherwise no one will listen, no matter how smart they are.
When I was drafted into the army (mandatory service in Israel) at the age of 18, I thought it'd be like the books I've read. "The person in command would notice I'm doing good / the others are slacking off" (hey, I'm a born nerd). To my surprise, they didn't. Not only that - they didn't even care they didn't. Being shy, I didn't make a peep and, as you can guess, nothing good happened.
Moral of the story: You've got to be able to sell yourself, otherwise even if your actions are good, you won't be promoted while other people, who are better at self-marketing, would (not to mention there'd be no personal gain).
When I got into work I got into an argument with my team leader. I said "we should do A, which is technically complex but correct". My team leader went to another person in the team which said "we should do B - or nothing at all". Since I was the new guy, I was overruled. About a year later the old team leader was replaced with a new one. Since I was already a bit of a veteran (and my new team leader was much more technically oriented). my idea was heard and implemented.
Moral of the story: It's better to be born a year earlier :). Seriously though - it's better to be well connected to people who have the power to decide.
I'm seeing the same patterns today, at my work place. Developers and team leaders who have a loud voice, who can convince people they're right, who can "sell" their ideas (and who are not marked as "annoying" by the lower-mid management tier) - get heard. The others who can't, are ordered to follow the initiatives of the ones who do. More than once I witnessed a good idea get buried because the initiator didn't push hard enough or wasn't liked enough.
I'm not "dissing" my organization. My managers aren't stupid. You (probably) couldn't bluff them into agreeing to ludicrous ideas. They'd demand proof of concept, demos, numbers and figures. But - they're people, not gods. At the end of the day, they'd listen the most to whomever is talking the most. The people they like, those they trust, have a more time to sell their ideas.
All (or most) ideas brought up are smart. Most of them need doing. Almost all would make the product better. However, time in a release is limited - so all of the ideas are competing with each other. The person that can adapt his ideas to show how they match the overall plan for the product, the one who talks with passion and manages to infect his audience, the one who's adapt at gaining support - or - in short, the person that can "sell" better than his peers - is the one that'll end with the winning idea.
Not always. But often.
I used to think "management" - now I think "managers". And they are just human. Like me.
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