In a recent blog post on mind the PRODUCT, Brad Cooper discusses how to innovate in a seemingly unmoving, monolithic, enterprise environment.
The part of the post that really caught me was the description of the 'lifers'- the in some ways amazing people who have survived restructures, new directions, buyouts and amazingly nurtured a long career not going mad in the process.
Those guys, as odd, entrenched and sometimes frustrating as they can be, will sometimes be your strongest allies, especially when you need to do something outside of 'the box'...