Part-time reader G. Watanabe writes, “I recently called on a new federal prospect, let’s call her Marlene, whose mission is a good match for my solutions.  Unfortunately, Marlene had recently had a bad accident with weights and couldn’t wait for the meeting to end.  What do I do next?”  It’s a big federal market, G., and maybe you and Marlene weren’t meant to be.  Different personalities and people with different ideas of what their mission is are facts of federal business life.  Don’t take it personally.  If you just plain cannot get along with someone, or they’re openly hostile to you, it may be best to move onto the next thing.  It might be possible to go around, below, or beside a roadblock, but proceed with caution if you go that route.  You’ll inevitably run into your roadblock again.  You could end up being viewed by the customer as the kid who tried to play one parent off the other.  The result could be worse than getting your cell phone taken away.  It may help to look at the government as a big lake.  Sure, your car might end up at the bottom, but there are plenty of bridges to get you to where you want to be.