Big, world-changing ideas, like Elon Musk’s SpaceX, do not come along often. And when they do, they can be incredibly hard for people to swallow. People like the status quo. In fact, when you come along and try to change that, you will always meet resistance. People are afraid of change.
And – as a whole – often lack ambition. If you tell someone 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 has to make it after all!
With all that in mind, how can you go about convincing people to put their faith (and cash) behind your idea? If you want to do something big, how do you get others on board?
The Power of Credibility
This is actually the same problem that Elon Musk faced when he wanted to send a man into space. Today, everyone takes Musk seriously but at the time, he was completely unknown. All he knew was that it was his mission to make space tourism a reality. And the attempts made by NASA and others at that time disappointed him.
He thus came up with the idea of a prize to motivate companies to create the technology necessary to make his vision a reality. The only problem? He had no money and everyone knew it. How could he offer a prize let alone build his rockets?
His solution was to make his initial presentation alongside enthusiastic engineers and astronauts. He found people that were as passionate about his idea as he was and by doing this, his dream gained 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 Like Elon Musk
So, the next time you have a big idea for a business, think about how you can get others to buy into it and whose help you need to convince them. If it sounds stupid coming from you, then speak to someone who won’t think it’s stupid and who can convince others.
This is the advantage of having a ‘big idea’ – it will be more exciting than a small one, and you’ll find people who want to become ambassadors for it. You just have to find them!
Read the whole story of Elon Musk’s visionary work in [amazon_textlink asin=’006230125X’ text=’Elon Musk: Tesla, SpaceX and the Quest for a Fantastic Future’ template=’ProductLink’ store=’markpeterson’ marketplace=’US’ link_id=’a4203d02-4065-11e7-845d-1f88a00ed4f3′]