A few years back, I pitched a dev tool that would let anyone run detailed image performance analysis through the Chrome DevTools API. It would measure, evaluate, and recommend changes: everything from file formats to CDN usage. At the time, Chrome didn't have this built in. Most solutions amounted to pasting a URL into some SERP-like tool and getting a score.
My manager's response: "Wow that's really neat, people would love this once it's fleshed out some more."
I took that as encouragement. It wasn't.
A year later, the team built the SERP-like tool instead. The one I'd argued was the inferior approach. I was crestfallen. To this day, I think it was the perfect time for that tool to have made an impact.
What I didn't understand then: that response was a rejection. A polite one, wrapped in enthusiasm, but a rejection all the same.
The uncomfortable truth
Part of being a senior engineer is getting really good at saying no. A lot.
Seniors and managers have seen initiatives go sideways. They've developed pattern-matching instincts that fire before your idea gets a fair hearing. They mean well. They probably have good reasons for their caution.
But the deck is stacked against you before you walk in the room.
Learning to spot the evasion
Once I started paying attention, I saw the patterns everywhere. The rejections that don't sound like rejections:
"Once it's fleshed out some more": The soft no. Sounds like encouragement, but there's no next step. No timeline. No commitment. Your idea just got sent to purgatory.
"Let's revisit next quarter": The deferral. Next quarter never comes. The context fades, the champion loses momentum, everyone forgets.
"You should talk to X team": The redirect. Sometimes legitimate routing. More often, it's making your idea someone else's problem.
"We should definitely look into that": The nod-and-forget. No action item. No follow-up. Just enough agreement to end the conversation.
These aren't bad faith. The people saying them probably don't realize they're killing your idea. But the effect is the same.
Forcing the conversation
Looking back, I know what I should have done. During that demo, I should have formally proposed we build the tool. "This is the direction I think we should go. Can we schedule time to discuss it?"
That turns a soft no into a real decision. It's uncomfortable, but ambiguity is where good ideas go to die.
A few moves that help:
Get specific. When someone says "it's more complicated than you think," ask what specifically is complicated. Vague concerns can't be addressed. Specific ones can.
Clarify the decision. "I want to make sure I understand: are we saying no, or is there something we're waiting for?" Forces clarity.
Start small. "What if we tried this on one endpoint for a week?" is harder to defer than a grand proposal. Small experiments de-risk the conversation.
Create a paper trail. Write up your proposal. If it keeps getting deferred, documentation helps. And when it finally ships under someone else's name, you'll know you planted the seed.
The point
Good ideas die at the hands of evasive seniors and managers. Not because they're malicious, but because ambiguity is easier than conflict.
You can avoid this. Spot the patterns. Force the conversation. Make them say no out loud, or commit to a next step.
Your idea deserves a real answer.