Companies don't appreciate your ideas

by Dale Davidson March 18, 2026

Make no mistake: the process of seeing ourselves and the world more accurately and objectively is hard and makes us think about things we generally avoid. The group needs rules of engagement that don’t make this harder by letting members get away with being nasty or dismissive. And we need to be aware that even a softer serve of dissent to those who have not agreed to the truthseeking charter can be perceived as confrontational.

-Annie Duke, Thinking in Bets: Making Smarter Decisions When You Don't Have All the Facts

Many companies pay lip service to "creativity" and fostering diverse points of view.

99% don't care for it and will penalize you for going against the grain.

This is one of the reasons I didn't want to be a W2 employee. Too much consensus building and (unintentional) hypocrisy.

This does not mean however, as a 1099 consultant you can just shoot your mouth off about all the great ideas you have and all the things the organization is doing wrong.

You have to be tactful about it.

Annie Duke, in her book, Thinking in Bets, advises you use the following techniques when communicating a challenging idea:

Express uncertainty about your opinion
Lead with assent (basically, affirm something your counterpart is saying as true)
Focus on the future (don't dwell on past errors)

In my world of analytics, here is how I'd do that.

I'm not sure of this is the right path, but I think we can do better with our dashboards
There is a lot of good material in the current portfolio of work, I think we can re-use it
If we go with my approach, I think we can accomplish X, Y, and Z

Bring a soft touch when you're trying to improve things. You're more likely to get what you want.

Want the full playbook? Check out Going 1099.