Fight? At What Cost?

Today DH and I watched the movie 'Flash of Genius' which is one of those stories of David vs Goliath. Not an especially unusual premise, but this one was a little tough for us to watch.
It is the story of a man who developed a windshield wiper control to give us what is now known as intermittent speed wipers.
He wanted to manufacture and sell the units to the companies that build cars, and thought that he had a deal to do so but instead was pressured to provide a unit for safety testing, and then found himself without a contract, while his invention turned up on cars months later.

As the story unfolded it reminded us of some of our ventures and adventures over the years. Just having a flash of genius is only the beginning of a long process, and the hoped for outcome is never as easy to achieve as it ought to be. Negotiating with others has to be done skillfully, and there is always something that you don't expect that will surprise you along the way. Not everyone will deal with you in good faith, and often you find yourself cut out of the process while your idea continues in someone else's hands.

The character in the movie was taken advantage of, and he fought back, but paid a terrible price to do so. It alienated his family, and cost him his marriage, along with years of his life as well. Was that worth it? To destroy his family to take on a soulless corporation, which did appear to have done wrong. Should he have let the issue go, and continued with his life, sadder but wiser, with the injustice eating at his belly?
Part of the story was that he heard from other inventors who had developed things only to have the patents go to corporate interests while the inventor is left empty handed and broke. I can begin to understand why some seem to hate the business world.

Morality is something we all need, individually and corporately. Sometimes we take a hit by doing the right thing, but isn't our integrity the only thing that we really have? Somewhere along the way forward, you will sow what you have reaped. Do the right thing.