Reference stand in your way for future success

Jan Boklöv hade a totally different idea on how to do ski-jumping. At first he wasn’t aloud to jump V-style even though he flew a lot longer. Finally people had to give in and he changed the sport.
One of the most common responses one gets when presenting an a brand new idea or outlining a strategy on how to achieve something is “Well, that’s a great idea, but…” and then that someone goes on and on about how things are done, how others do it, what has been done before and so on. References or benchmarks are good in some ways but in most cases it just a big fat wall that stands in your way.
Say you wan’t to create a product no one have ever seen. When you present your idea to people they will get nervous cause they don’t know how to classify your idea based on their own expertise. Their brain will then do everything in its power to group your idea with already existing ideas. This behaviour is based on fear and has been a typical human reaction since the beginning of mankind. Reactions to truly new ideas can only be measured once you actually go through with your idea. And even then it will take some time for people go adapt to it. After all, if you do something unique people has nothing to compare with.
Don’t ask people what they think about your idea. Seek advice on how to make your idea come alive, but don’t expect people to love your idea. If they do its probably not groundbreaking enough.