Here's something that has been on my mind for a while: If you are an innovator in your field, or in a field you are pioneering, how much can you afford to compromise? And if you can afford to compromise even a little, does it necessarily follow that you should compromise at all?
To some degree, the members of this club are innovators - we are each trying to use a new form of communication to enhance our businesses. Some of us are trying to introduce entire industries to blogging and other technologies. And some of us are attempting to shift global business operations from an outdated, tired, inefficient and unsatisfying mode to something more effective, honest, real, exciting and more conducive to prosperity.
Sooner or later, we will all be asked to compromise on our principles - if we have not been asked already to do so. It can be tempting to give in to what may seem like insignificant requests ("I know you say it is impossible to put a dollar amount on the effectiveness of blogging, but we really need some numbers before we can be sure that blogging is worthwhile..."), or equally it can drive one absolutely bonkers to be asked to go along with business as usual for the sake of it ("Hey, that's just how it's done, so it's how you have to do it too...").
So where do you draw the line? What compromises have you been asked to make? Have you ever done so and lived to regret it - or not done so and wished later that you had? Better yet, have you ever refused to compromise and then had the satisfaction of later seeing the rest of your peers catch up to your innovation?
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