Are you a ‘yes man’?

With the launch of the new Jim Carrey film Yes Man I thought I’d cast a thought on the effects that having a ‘yes’ mentality has on your career, and potentially your private life.

In my job I lead the creative side on most projects, I’m also expected to be highly productive. I found that by having these two responsibilities I was developing a “no” mentality as a default answer. In my mind it was about priorities, time, quality, creative thinking and setting a realistic expectation right at the outset. This is what I found:

Saying no:

1. Strips you of influence.

Most of the time the project still happens. It just happened without my influence. So the very thing I said no to…happened poorly without me. If the only agenda is my productivity then this may be a winner – but in most circumstances the agenda is effectiveness and because I said no the project happens ineffectively.

In my case I was saying “no” to a ton of internal design requests. The design was still happening – just without my influence and adversely effected the brand.

2. Creates lack of trust from teammates.

If I’m always saying no, people will stop asking, they will just get it done with or without me and start to see me. The question is am I out for myself or am I out for the team?

“I scored 5 goals but my team lost”, this is a very productive solo football outing but sucks for the team.

I 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”. I hate to say it but it true.

5 Ways to say YES and NEVER say NO:

• Yes. I can do this in your time frame and in your budget.
• Yes. I can do this in your budget but I am going to have to change the time frame.
• Yes. I can do this, but not in your time frame or your budget. Let’s negotiate.
• Yes. I can do this, but I do not think it is the best way. May I make suggestions?
• Yes, I can have someone else do this for you.

What saying YES does.

• Gives you influence. If you do not want influence – you are not a leader.
• Gives your teammates faith in you. A yes man or women is seen as a faithful and loyal member of the team. That’s productive.
• Give you the emotional deposits to be able to lead for change and more productivity in the end.

Moral of the story

If you want an easy life – Say NO. If you want influence – Say Yes. If you want to tell your colleagues exactly what you think of them, if you want be left alone to ‘do what your paid for’ then just say no.

Related posts:

1. 5 ways of preventing ‘Scope Creep’