1. Never say no to armed gunmen or managers: a key
lesson from those who work behind the scenes when terrorists take hostages is
never to respond with a no. Whatever is demanded by the gunmen from, say, the
hijacked plane - be it ten million dollars or a helicopter to take them out of
the country - the police negotiators never respond with a no, even when the
answer actually is no.
Instead they say things like `We are working on it but it's difficult to get
a helicopter with a big enough fuel tank for your purposes' – basically they
play for time.
The
reason you never explicitly say no is that to do so would inevitably evoke a
retaliatory response. So the art of saying no is to not appear to say no while
in fact avoiding giving a person what they ask for. Obviously this art, when
played at the highest level, has to be done in an extremely sophisticated
manner, as most gunmen are not entirely stupid (I am- not so sure about NHS
managers), and can often detect when they are being flannelled. The art of
saying no is to appear as though you are giving a positive response while
really saying no.
So the
number-one tip in learning the Zen skill of saying no is to remove the word no
or any negative response from your vocabulary, and to become extremely
proficient at getting bogged down in difficulties in fulfilling the request.
2.
Play for time, as in all contests eventually bad light always stops play:
A major ally on your `saying no' team is time. If you spend long enough not
giving people what they want they usually turn to other, quicker, solutions,
discover how to do without your help or learn that they never really wanted
what they asked of you in the first place. So instead of saying no, learn to
say yes, but take so long doing it that this becomes a no in reality. One way
of harnessing time is simply to postpone saying yes by having other things to
do before you can give an answer. Also there are all those things you need to
find out about before you can give this decision your proper consideration.
Then there are all those people you have to check with (you are extremely keen
to do this, it's just that the secretaries or accounts dept will want to be
consulted first as they will be affected).
3.
Put the ball back in their court: Have they checked first with the chief
executive? Have they taken this to the management committee? Have they
considered what will happen if this or that occurs, as a result of this new
thing they want you to do? You don't mind doing it but first, as you don't
want to tread on anyone's toes and you want to do it properly, you need to
make sure the person making the request has followed the correct protocol.
Doesn't this conflict with other arrangements already in place? Wouldn't that
compatibility need ensuring first?
4. Bury it in a
committee: One of
the public sector's favourite and most unproductive activities is meetings.
Obviously most meetings are usually more obstructive than helpful in
implementing change (how many statues in major capitals do you see erected to
a committee as opposed to an individual?). So a good way of saying no is to
take a request to a meeting for it to be discussed – sure enough someone
somewhere at a meeting will find a good reason for not doing it, or at least
get upset that they weren't consulted first.
5. Ask for
clarification: A
good way of returning fire is to bombard the person making the request with
questions. What happens during the holidays? Who will do it during sick leave?
When they say this needs doing within seven days, do they mean seven working
days? What precisely does their memo mean? Pedantry is a most useful weapon in
dealing with missives from above. The key here is that most memos, because
they are brief, leave a universe of meaning open to conjecture – a veritable
playground of possibilities. Enjoy!
6.
Take the opportunity to bring up a thing you need from them: One of the
most universal, but tacit, laws of human interaction is that of reciprocation
– if you ask me for a favor it would appear impolite, at the least, not to try
to do me a favor in return. So whenever someone asks you to do something take
the opportunity to immediately ask them for something – keep a handy list of
things you need doing that can be whipped out at the slightest sign of favors
coming your way. Remember that survival in the modern office is increasingly
like the gunfight at the OK Corral: the fastest on the draw walks away.
7.
Remember you work in a team and so there are always others you have to check
with first: One danger of saying no is that you don't look like a team
player, so turn this on its head by becoming the most bonded of team players.
So teamy, in fact, that you want to check with everybody before you agree that
this is a good thing to do, as you don't want to go out on a limb here. If
your team is big enough you are bound to find some-one sooner or later who
objects and this is where the new idea gets scuppered – but not by you.
8.
You think it's a great idea but do they realize it will mean you can't also do
the great idea they had last week?: One way to scupper a manager's plans
for more work for you is to demonstrate that this will mean their other pet
project will get impeded by this new project. People don't like it when you
say no, and will fight you when you do, but they are pulled up short when the
sacrifice that will be made to get this new thing done is on their part. This
has a tendency to clarify just how important the new project is if an old one
of theirs is going to be forfeited on the altar of the new directive.
9.
If a thing is worth doing, it's worth doing well, or not at all ...: Judo
is about using the force an opponent is coming at you with to their
disadvantage and tripping them up. So the manager wants this new objective
attained, but what's the point of doing it if it's not going to be done
properly – let's certainly do it but let's do it properly and this will mean,
of course, a lot of new resources as well ...
10.
If it's such a good idea how come not everyone is doing it?: A favourite
management technique when you ask for something is to point out that this
thing isn't happening elsewhere, so using comparison as a way of saying no.
You can use this to your own advantage as well. If a Trust wants to start a
new policy, how come it's not happening in a nearby office? How is it others
seem to survive without this marvellous new plan? Unfortunately, this
technique can make you sound a bit like a five-year-old complaining to their
parents about what the older siblings have that they don't.
But
don't forget, they started it.
