The more novel our idea is, the longer it will take to take off

Why is it always such a bloody uphill battle to challenge the status quo?

Because the human instinct is to reject novelty in the face of uncertainty. Upsetting the balance of things requires a monumental effort in the part of the creator.

Original and forward moving ideas are often perceived by the culture a threat, and it takes a very long time before those innovations are accepted and embraced.

Bezos, in my favorite of his letters to the shareholders, announced the launch of his revolutionary electronic book. He admitted to fighting this battle as a company.

Anything that has persisted in roughly the same form and resisted change for five hundred years is unlikely to be improved easily, he said. Kindle ultimate launch in fine style, but it still took about four years after hitting the market until ebook sales finally matched or outpaced paperback sales.

That’s how patient they were. And two decades later, many people can’t imagine reading their favorite books in any other format.

Are you willing to wait that long for your idea to find fertile ground? Or will you throw in the towel one year after trudging in the rocky place where your seed could find no purchase?

Innovation is long arc game. Patience is your friend.

You still have to commit and show up every day to do the work. But it might be a long time before your thing catches on.

This is the price you pay for novelty. When you decide to build something that’s different, rather than better, let the uphill battle begin.

The world’s resistance will show up almost immediately, constantly blowing wind in your face, trying to slow you down.

I’m reminded of a book written by a priest that changed my life. After rereading his words for a second time recently, an insight surfaced that I must have missed on the first go around. Demello explained:

We don’t want new things, particularly when they’re disturbing, particularly when they involve change, most particularly, when it involves saying that we were wrong.

What a frustrating feature of the human condition.

But it doesn’t mean we shouldn’t aim to do revolutionary things. Quite the contrary. The key is managing our expectations going in. The more novel our idea is, the longer it will take to take off.

It’s one of the reasons I recommend that more creative people pursue dual citizenship. If you’ve got big entrepreneurial plans, don’t quit your day job. That’s the best thing you’ve got going for you right now. It’s leverage. Securing a reliable, professional work opportunity that finances the rest of your artistic projects is a blessing.

Sure, you won’t have hundreds of hours a week to devote to your business venture. And there won’t be as much acute sale pressure as there would be if you went full time right away.

But since it’s going to be a long, uphill battle anyway, you may as well give yourself some support. That way you can chip away in tiny increments every day.

I’ve worked full time at a variety of agencies and startups for the past ten years, and I’ve still managed to produce a prolific output of creative work. Even more than when I worked solely as a freelancer.

That’s what happens when you wake up early and steal moments from tiny pockets in the crowded day. The compound interest really does add up.

Thinking of launching something that is high in novelty and challenges to the status quo? Set your life up in a way that makes it easy for you to stick around for a long time.

And maybe your idea will find fertile ground.

Are you willing to pay the price of being innovative?