Maybe it’s because you don’t have the skill or the knowledge or the natural ability, or you simply don’t have the productive capacity. Tell me what you mean by a bad yes.īRUCE TULGAN: A bad yes is, if somebody asks you to do something, and you really cannot do it. And just as every well-reasoned, well-timed no makes room for a better yes, because you know, yes is where all the action is.ĪLISON BEARD: Right. Every bad yes crowds out a much better yes. I don’t think those people are listening to this podcast.ĪLISON BEARD: So, it’s mostly the people who are overextended, and they’re saying no because they’ve said yes too many times before and haven’t been thinking strategically about this whole process.īRUCE TULGAN: Yeah. I mean, look, some people say no just because they’re lazy and they’re trying to avoid work. And then you start saying no, not because of the quality of the request or the opportunity or the person involved, but because you feel overwhelmed, and because you’re feeling overwhelmed, you’re not making the best decisions from the standpoint of the business and your career. And pretty soon what happens is, you start to feel like you’re under siege. I think people feel like they’re so desperate to demonstrate their value, they’re afraid to say no.ĪLISON BEARD: And what about the people who do say no maybe too often? Why is that a mistake?īRUCE TULGAN: Well, what happens is that if you keep saying yes, yes, yes to everyone and everything, eventually you find yourself overcommitted. They feel like they can’t say no, even though they know they can’t say yes to everyone and everything. People want to say yes because they don’t want to disappoint. I think more than ordinary times, people really want to make sure that they’re proving their value, and that they, so they’re afraid to say no. And especially right now, when we’re in crisis, when businesses are in jeopardy, when people are losing their jobs. Why do so many of us say yes too often, and hesitate to say no?īRUCE TULGAN: Well, everybody in the workplace wants to be that indispensable go-to person. He wrote the book The Art of Being Indispensable at Work and the HBR article, “Learn To Say No.” Bruce, thanks so much for being on the show.īRUCE TULGAN: Thank you so much for having me.ĪLISON BEARD: So let’s start with a problem.
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He says that people who learn how to decide on, and give the strategic yes or a well-reasoned no are the ones that build the best careers.īruce Tulgan is the founder and CEO of RainmakerThinking. Our guest today has studied how the most successful executives evaluate all the requests being thrown at them and figure out how to respond. Or maybe you’re one of those people who says no too often, as a kneejerk reaction because you’re swamped or a little afraid of taking on a challenge.
In today’s show, we’re focusing in on the answers to those questions, knowing when to say yes and how to say no.įor many of us, it can feel hard to say no, particularly coworkers and bosses, particularly to coworkers and bosses, even when we’re extremely busy and really can’t fit another thing on our plates. People asking you to weigh in on a decision, join a team, help out on a project, give them a promotion or raise. Whether you’re a CEO, a midlevel manager or even an intern, I’ll bet that a lot of your workday is about fielding requests. Tulgan is the author of the HBR article “ Learn When to Say No.”ĪLISON BEARD: Welcome to HBR IdeaCast from Harvard Business Review. He explains how to evaluate each ask, determine which you should prioritize, and deliver either a strategic “yes” or a well-thought-through no. Bruce Tulgan, founder of the management training firm RainmakerThinking, says that the key to career success isn’t only embracing opportunities it’s also declining projects, tasks, and requests for help so you create time for the most value-added work.
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