That seems like a shame - so many fabulous ideas (at least half of them from that particular co-worker. I mean, damn, dude's smart!), so much utter inertia keeping things from being done until the second floor has hemmed and hawed over it until sometime in the middle of the next strategic plan!

Incidentally, I disagree with your assessment of your own place in relation to all this stuff. People who can implement this stuff aren't all that hard to come by; people who will -- well, now we're back to the bureaucraxy -- but neither of those are the people who say (and it often needs to be said to both sides) "our users really badly need this -- whereas that other thing is useless shiny bullshit." You're seriously good at that (although when I put it that way, I can see why you might get dinged for not keeping your mouth shut).