Not to take away anything from her genius but I wonder if the fact that she was a woman trying to tell these generals and chairmen to use the math symbols was part of why they refused. If she'd been a fellow man, they might have been more willing to try. And perhaps "he" would have pushed harder because "he" would have had experience of other men listening to "him." Instead, from having dealt before with men shutting her down, she thought laterally about how to adapt her system so they'd accept it more readily.
Or of course I could be completely wrong. If so, I'm sure someone will tell me.