Learn to Say, “No”
October 14, 2007Overloaded? Overwhelmed? Learn to say, “No.” If you don’t take care of yourself, then who will? Zen Habits‘ blogger Leo Babauta offer these 8 Essential Strategies for Saying No.
- Try saying “yes” first
- Know your commitments
- Value your time
- Defer
- Be polite, but firm
- Pre-empt
- “I’d love to, but”
- Never say you’re sorry
If you’re going to say yes, then mean it. Otherwise, say, “No.”Here’s one more. Read the rest of this entry »
—Hal | no comments
(posted in the General category)
Get Started Developing the Promising Habit
February 4, 2007Every now and then I need some encouragement. Michael Port, one of my good friends, just posted a his first video blog posting titled I Promise… Michael is a business-building coach. In his short video he speaks the importance of developing the habit of commitment-making and fulfilling to the success of our business. Have a look.
—Hal | no comments
(posted in the General category)
Make Let’s Play Catch! a Team Sport
October 10, 2005I’ve taught Making and Securing Reliable Promises (MSRP) back-to-back for two construction firms in the last month. Both are good-sized firms operating in California. Each put two dozen people in a room with me or on the phone. I’m always surprised by the reaction people have to the course material. Making and keeping promises and having others do the same for you is challenging work. While the ideas are simple, the reaction each time is “So, that’s how it works!”
More surprising is how people engage in the course. There’s the usual “I don’t have time to do the homework,” along with the majority of participants that are unwilling to speak in class. However, I keep teaching the course because of the minority of students who engage fully. One recent report, “I’m amazed at how contagious this has become,” is the payoff. And all it takes is two week’s homework taking 15 minutes each day.
Contact me to explore how I can work with your team.
—Hal | no comments
(posted in the Courses category)
Get a Summary of the Let’s Play Catch! Mini Course
August 14, 2005I had a big weekend in Orange County presenting to the OC PMI Chapter. I was quite surprised how many people came out for the event on a beautiful weekend day. The agenda was packed. The speakers were quite good.
I’m making my presentation available here: Getting BIG Things Done (on projects) Working with Others. Those of you who’ve taken the course will recognize the material. I culled some points from each of the 10 lessons. It’s a good summary of the lessons. If you haven’t taken the course, then you’ll get a good idea of what it’s about. The one thing missing is the exercises for building your competence at getting BIG things done working with others. You’ll only get those in the mini-course. Enjoy!
—Hal | no comments
(posted in the Courses category)
Be Responsible, Say “No”
July 4, 2005In the can-do, must-do project world, saying “No” comes off as not being a team player. Of course we must say “Yes,” the team is depending on us. But saying “No” can be the most responsible action we can take.
Recent weblog postings from Ester Derby No is in the Air and Jeffrey Phillips Getting to No do a good job explaining the circumstances and implications for saying “No”.
My rationale for saying “No” is simple. No is a response to a request to accomplish or provide something. When we say “No” we are declining the request. In other words, no is a promise not to perform. It is spoken by someone who already has outstanding promises and is counting on others to fulfill promises as well. Those promises link forming a network of commitments that is the means of accomplishing our project. Inappropriately saying “Yes” leads to inevitable breakdowns when some other promise goes unfulfilled.
- A promise “No” allows the customer of the request to get someone else — maybe someone more qualified — to fulfill the request at the earliest moment rather than after the performer has missed fulfilling the commitment.
- The freedom to promise “No” gives the performer the opportunity to fully and sincerely promise “Yes”. Without that freedom there can be no dignity for the performer. The relationship between the performer and the customer drifts towards indentured servitude.
- Permission to promise “No” maintains or improves the quality of the pre-existing and always changing network of commitments since one broken promise can cascade into many broken promises. Saying “No” is the opportunity to find someone that is in a good position to say “Yes”.
I’ve written extensively at Reforming Project Management on making and securing reliable promises on projects. What must we consider in saying “Yes” or “No”? Sign-up for the Let’s Play Catch! mini-course to learn the basics of making promises reliably. And when you do I’ll include Securing Reliable Promises on Projects, A Guide for Developing a New Practice as a bonus.
Give yourself and others on your team the freedom to say “No”. It’s the responsible thing to do.
—Hal | no comments
(posted in the General category)
Over 100 Subscribers to Promising Mini-Course
June 30, 2005I’m quite pleased with the reception I’m getting to the mini-course. Here’s the latest review. It comes from across the pond in Clarke Ching’s I Think Not, Baby Puppy Don’t miss: Conversations for Action. Clarke does a good job of sharing the background of my work. And some very kind words. Thanks Clarke!
If you haven’t signed up, please do so now. If you have, then I’d love to hear your comments on the course.
—Hal | no comments
(posted in the Courses category)
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