I saw a post today called “Are you a YES man (or woman)” on the productivity blog Dumb Little Man (funny name, great blog!). I thought it was a good companion to my post “Productivity Hint? NO!” from a few weeks ago.
In that post I wrote,
…the tip that’s made the most difference in my life isn’t one I picked up during my recent productivity blitz. It’s something I learned when I was a young mom.
It’s ok to say “no”.
…
Once I freed myself to say no, I found that I didn’t say it very often. I volunteer regularly. I take on projects and do favors. In other words, my default answer is “yes.”
In the post at Dumb Little Man, Shawn Wood writes,
I do understand the conventional productivity thinking and believe that there are several layers of “Yes”, but I am convinced that the principle should be - “The answer is always yes”.
He gives some good examples of how saying “no” can undermine your influence on projects and can affect the trust others have in you. He also has great suggestions on how to say “yes” without compromising too much.
I don’t know if I’m convinced that it’s always better to say “yes.” I suppose it has to do with who you are working with, or for, and what your end goal is. In the past, I’ve definitely gone through times when “no” was my default answer, and I missed out on some great opportunities to work with and get to know people. Better to take time to make sure “yes” isn’t the correct answer before you say “no.”
2 Comments
I still like the word “no”. Although I’ve said my fair share of “yes” in the past years. And I probably say “yes” more than “no”. But I like having “no” as an option. Maybe I should use it more on the kids??
Without reading the entire post, I would say that “no” is sometimes the correct answer, both for businesses and individuals. No one can do everything. I will say that there are ways to either soften the “no” or to provide alternatives, even if it means referring the customer to someone else who CAN say yes (Remember “Miracle on 34th Street” where Santa refers the mom to Gimbels?).