No Finds Another Way

“No” often comes with a silver lining:

“This needs to be completed by tomorrow” creates new opportunities for process refinement when the answer is, “No, it can’t be completed by tomorrow.”

Now you get to find a way to create lead time, or possibly even question the need in the first place.

“We need to make a report on this” creates new opportunities for communication when the answer is, “No, we won’t be making a report on this.”

Now you get to find a way of communicating without a report, possibly even creating communication someone will actually want to engage with.

“We need more budget for this” creates new opportunities for products when the answer is, “No, we won’t be adding budget to this.”

Now you get to find a way to make better use of what we have, or get real about how important every single new feature really is.

There’s not a silver lining behind every no.

Just most of them.