The Meaning of “No”
Posted on November 26th, 2007 by Sensei
No means no. Right? Well, it depends. A lot of times in corporate-land, the Cubicle Fu master will find people who are afraid: afraid of looking silly, afraid of boss’s judgment, or just afraid of not having a job. Many times “No” is the answer to new ideas not from objective evaluation of the idea, but of fear.
Last month I sent an email to the CEO proposing a new project. He said no. He said he just wasn’t sure there was value in the project. So I said thank you and I’d think about it, and I went to a group of Directors and asked them what they thought of the proposal and what they would change so it would have value for them. The CEO’s “No” was based on a one-page summary, and incomplete knowledge of what people levels down from him would want. So I’m now finding out, and may get this project done after all.
What do do with a “No”
- Evaluate: What kind of no is it?
If the “no” is really an “I don’t know” then find out what isn’t known. For example, “No, not right now, I don’t know know if…” is a call for more information, not a stop sign. - Communicate your intention to help fill in the pieces
You get to frame the communication here. Frame his “no” as “feedback” and express your intention to figure out how to move forward in a tone that seems like no big deal. E.g. “Thanks Boss/CEO/Authority for your feedback. You’re right, there are a lot of unknowns here. I’m going to do some research to see if there is a way to address your concerns and make this a valuable tool. I’ll get back to you when I have more information for you.” - Find a Mentor/Sponsor
These are people with influence in the company who will get excited about your idea and help champion it. - Fill in the missing pieces
Now do the research and figure out if the unknown is known. Find people who have been around and can give you honest critique. Take the critique, modify it, and keep going until someone with purse strings says, “No way.”
From here, it’s really up to you. You can repeat step 4 until the project is done. The key there is that you’re constantly finding out what people actually need, and what the next step is.
