Persistence is an asset

This episode happened over a year ago. When I just finished some experiments, I had to use one of the well-known methods to analyze the results. While doing the analysis, I realized that this well-known method was imprecise and variable. So I tired to design an alternative method to improve the result interpretation, and come up with a very easy and precise way to analyze the data. Later I told my supervisor and co-authors about the alternative way of interpretation, and even prepared a manu for their comments. To my surprise, they all said that the well-known method had been in use for nearly one hundred years, and that if you liked to challenge the old method, you had to conduct a more comprehensive study than the simple alternative you have proposed, which even a high school graduate could understand and use. One of them even told me that your manu was not worth submitting as it contained nothing new nor interesting. And they were not willing to put their names down as co-authors. But I persisted, and replied that if they did not want to ruin their reputation by being co-authors for this paper, I would submit it one my own as I was not afraid losing my reputation by submitting a bad journal paper. In the end, the manu was well received by journal reviewers and was accepted by the journal without much hassle. Later I mentioned the acceptance of my paper to them, they simply said perhaps you were right or you were lucky to come across some sympathetic reviewers. But I felt they had missed an opportunity to get another co-authorship under their belts. Thus, persistence is an asset.