Many moons ago, before I was in technology, I worked as a sheet metal workers apprentice. I remember on more than one occasion, watching the shop foreman talk to the company owner or a customer with a look on his face that anyone who has ever spent two seconds chatting with the least competent corporate VP can identify with.

It’s a look that says, “I understand the words that you’re saying but you clearly don’t know what the hell you’re talking about.” There are people in virtually every industry that somehow manage to fail upwards. Maybe if you call yourself the “idea guy” enough, other people start to believe you.