Help saying, No
Pitching to investors, you better be prepared. Know your numbers, understand the customer, nail your proposition, show the holes in your team, tick off the milestones…
Sometimes it’s easy to say, No.
When it’s obviously a bad idea (Would you mind driving off this cliff?), when your team is point-focused on a definitive objective, when the curtain’s going up or the baby’s being delivered. A No is natural. Prioritisation is precious.
Most of the time though, when interesting opportunities come up, the honest answer is … probably.
You could leave port and head out for someplace new. Resources could be diverted here, the team could soft pedal there, a path could be found through the thicket. So, yeah, maybe. It’s possible.
Given that you can’t do everything … the question then is … should you?
If you have a no-strategy strategy, then why not? There’s room for everything.
For everyone else, probably not. Before saying No, bounce it off the plan. Would it take your further or faster, or distract or confuse or slow things down.
A plan helps you say, No. It’s as much about what you won’t do as what you will.
Skippy Strategy: Get a plan. Change it if you want to, but not just because you can.
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Category:
Managing
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