It is always difficult to get to a business result. Projects often require the assistance of many people who are unable or unwilling to help. In some cases, that task is made even more difficult by people who are trying to be helpful but end up diverting you away from the result that you need. It's especially important to minimize these types of distractions when you are working on an innovative project which has not proven its value to the organization yet!
There are many occasions where we may think that we've gained the agreement that we need. The other party has let us know that they support our idea. What we need to keep in mind is that without a firm commitment for action, we haven't really accomplished anything.
This article from HBR discusses "Avoiding the Soft 'Yes'". Here is an excerpt describing the issue:
They’re more comfortable asking busy people to add another item to their to-do list. But since most people’s incentives are tied to delivering against the core business, they’ll likely nod their heads and agree to help out — but prioritize the tasks they feel they’re being paid to do over the pursuit of uncertain ideas.
Thus, the soft yes — people agree (in principle) to your request, but they don’t come through whole-heartedly. The net result is that innovation efforts limp along, making just enough progress to keep management intrigued, but not enough to have any material impact.
The solution is to have very clear resource requests early in any pitch. When everyone in the meeting is clear on the objectives, they will also understand that their agreement is also to provide the resources necessary to accomplish the necessary tasks.
Here is the link to the full article: http://blogs.hbr.org/2013/07/avoiding-the-soft-yes/
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