How Elon Musk Made People Take Him Seriously
Big, world-changing ideas do not come along often. And when they do, they can be challenging for people to swallow. People like the status quo, and when you come along and try to change that, you will always meet resistance. People are afraid of change.
And people – as a whole – are also often lacking in ambition. If you tell someone that you’re going to be a rock star or an astronaut, the most common reaction you’ll get is disbelief. This is a shame, though: someone must make it after all!
With all that in mind, how can you convince people to put their faith (and cash) behind your idea? How do you get others on board if you want to do something big?
The Power of Credibility
This is the same problem Elon Musk faced when he wanted to send a man into space. Musk is taken seriously by everyone now, but he was utterly unknown at the time. All he knew was that his mission was to make space tourism a reality. And he was disenfranchised by the attempts made by NASA and others at that time.
He thus came up with an idea of a prize to motivate companies to create the technology necessary to make his vision a reality. The only problem? He didn’t have the money, and no one believed he could offer it!
His solution was to make his initial presentation alongside enthusiastic engineers and astronauts. He found people as passionate about his idea as he was, and by doing this, he lent his entire concept credibility. People would have laughed him off the stage but not when he appeared alongside such luminaries.
How to Get Credibility for Your Big Idea
So, the next time you have a big idea for a business, think about how you can get others to buy into it and what it would take to convince them. If it sounds stupid coming from you, speak to someone who won’t think it’s ridiculous and will be able to persuade others.
And this is the advantage of having a ‘big idea’ – it will automatically be more exciting than a small idea, and so you’ll find there will be people out there who want to become ambassadors for it.
You have to find them!