When Someone Attacks Your Great Idea

"The most effective people, instead of just spraying verbal bullets, respond in a way that is not only respectful but very short, simple, clear, and filled with common sense."

This is the observation of John Kotter, as interviewed in the Harvard Business Review (October 2010; hbr.org) article, "How to Save Good Ideas."  Kotter offers five suggestions for responding to attacks on your ideas:

• Don't push out the troublemakers; let them in and treat them with respect.
• Don't respond in half-hour speeches that try to drill people into the ground with information, but communicate in ways that are simple, clear.
• Don't let it get personal, no matter how much you want to lash out.
• Watch the whole group and don't get hung up on the one guy who's attacking you.
• Be prepared — don't wing it.

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