Babies and Bath Water

You've probably heard that age-old phrase: "Don't toss out the baby with the bath water."  We've all heard it many times.  It's amazing how few people really let that sink in.  I was thinking about some of the projects I've been involved with over the past few years.  The key players.  The major issues.  The conflicts, challenges and resolutions at every milestone.  I also recalled the personalities and alliances and adversaries.  Then I remembered how many times a suggestion was discarded simply because it was bundled with a collection of issues, some of which were not ideal.  Rather than pick and choose, the entire bucket was sent back to the kitchen.  I still see this happen all the time.  The next time you're considering some idea for improvement, and maybe it was proposed by someone you don't particularly care for, or respect much, ask yourself if you really don't like the idea because of technical merit or because of who suggested it.  And then ask yourself if there are any pieces of it that might be of value, rather than wrapping the whole thing up and stamping it for rejection as a whole.