> try to insert yourself into the discussions and appeal to them as an authority, while selling your idea as if it was their idea[2]. The metric for them is visibility, familiarity and career ascension, and thats the hidden goal in this scenario you have to play into.
Very difficult in practice, does anyone have stories on accomplishing this in a developer job?
I've had some success with this by working solo on an idea until it's ready to present. Then I'll talk in general terms about the idea with someone who has authority/political backing. It's important to talk high-level without showing them any of your work. I ask a few questions and I let them play with the idea. I try to spend most of the time listening. If I find that we are mostly on the same page I wait until the next day and show them my work saying something like "I threw this together based on what you were saying yesterday". This has worked well so far in my career. As the people who want to grind the corporate ladder ascend/move to bigger companies, they call me within a few months asking if I'd like to join them/their new team.
If I need to insert myself into a discussion I play dumb by asking a lot of questions even if I have knowledge/experience with the subject. To present alternative ideas I'll ask things like "Why wouldn't X work here?" or "What are the benefits of doing {current thing} instead of {what I want}?". Since I'll already have knowledge of the subject I can mostly tell when their responses don't make sense and I'll continue asking to follow-up questions trying to get them to see things from my perspective. I've done this a lot and it seems like it's a 50/50 shot that they'll be open to trying your ideas.
Very difficult in practice, does anyone have stories on accomplishing this in a developer job?