We have been unable to satisfy one of the requirements for a project. In discussing this with a friend (same industry, outside the company, not a competing situation), we came up with an idea which seems promising. Some effort will be required to test it out, and - if it proves workable - make it work and put it into place.
My expectation was that my boss would be pleased with this idea and tell me to proceed with the initial testing. Instead she rejected it and told me that I am not to spend time working on it. Her initial rejection of my idea was a few weeks ago. I've brought it up a couple more times, but have gotten the same response. She has an idea that involves a third party, which has been unresponsive to my boss' communications efforts; nonetheless, she continues saying this is how we'll proceed. This incident has left me with the impression that she is only interested in pursuing ideas she comes up with.
We're getting fairly deep into the project; we're on schedule, but if we don't come up with a solution to this requirement soon, there's a possibility that we'll miss our deadline for completion. I don't want our project to fail because of this issue. Should I go up the management chain to try to get permission to try this out? Or should I just wait and hope she changes her mind? Or just let it be and figure that if we fail it's her responsibility? Or is there another approach I've not thought of?
