You read the best blogs, follow the new trends and, from time to time, you find something that is worth trying. You try it. You like it. You know it's a good idea. You want to adopt it.
But your boss doesn't even know about the new thing because he only reads those mainstream slow-to-catch-up magazines. You are sure that you found a good thing, but it won't even get into his radar and anything that doesn't get into his radar "is just another hype". How do you make him notice the new thing?
You show him a demo with a list of pros and cons, in case you have some free time to experiment (or else are able to do it on your own time). Afterwards he sees it and likes it (he may not like it for various reasons, not all of them strictly technical, there are things that make technical sense but not business sense), you can send him the links for the blogs and resources where you learned about it.
You need to be able to present him with a ROI (Return On Investment). How will the company from your suggestion?
While you may think your boss is clueless, he is likely listening to those magazines because he see their opinions as representing a larger consensus of professional and therefore being more likely to give him a good return.
Your boss should definitely favor your opinions and decisions, but I wouldn't expect him to blindly trust you with your recommendation. You need to make a good business case.
In other words: Speak his language.
You should make your case:
And you will have a success ;)
Good question. "Selling ideas" is a skill and unfortunately, not as easy as we want it to be.
I'm going to recommend Chapter 17, Making the Case for Information Architecture, in "the polar bear book", Information Architecture for the World Wide Web. Try seeing if your local library has it or do a free trial at Safari Online Books for a preview.
The basic idea is to sell to your boss' or client's personality type, "by the numbers" or "gut reactionaries". Sell data/figures like ROI to numbers people and use stories/examples for the reactionaries. Your stories should involve people/companies in similar situations (as yourself). Describe their pain and spell out the possible solutions with the pros/cons of each solution.
One thing the book does mention is that ROI is not always useful, citing that Information Architecture is a human issue...it doesn't lend itself to the quantification that one might expect from other areas. But not all is lost! Later in the chapter, they provide a nice checklist of points for you to reference when making your case. Examples: provides competitive advantage or reduces duplication of effort.
Good Luck!