Great Visions Always Spark Opposition

What’s the first thing you can bank on when you articulate a clear, bold, optimistic vision?

Controversy and opposition.

Most people fear and resent change. Just ask Gustave Eiffel.

Before it became a much-beloved international icon and the definitive architectural masterpiece of the 19th Century, the Eiffel Tower was fiercely opposed.

It was variously called by contemporary critics: “this belfry skeleton” (Paul Verlaine); “this truly tragic street lamp” (Léon Bloy); and “a ridiculous, skinny, factory chimney stack” (Guy de Maupassant).

Architects were outraged that an engineer was chosen for such a prominent monument and Parisian artistic elites published an open letter denouncing it as a “useless, monstrous … Tower of Babel.”

To add to his woes, a Paris City Council member living in the area launched a lawsuit against Eiffel, who – to avoid stopping construction – personally assumed all risks to compensate locals in the event of an accident.

The more vicious and vitriolic the criticism, the more certain you can be that your vision is worth pursuing.

The mediocre is ignored. Only projects of impact solicit passionate reactions (both positive and negative).

Don’t let the envious deter you. Double down on your vision.