Management Rules: 50 New Rules for Managers

CHAPTER 26

HOW TO SAY “NO”

At some point you need to find a way of saying no to the latest insane idea to have come out of the head of your boss or one of your peers. And in the corporate world, being negative is a cardinal sin, so you have to be positive about “no”. How do you square this circle? You have several options:

• Do nothing. The hardest thing in the world to overcome is corporate inertia. The simple act of doing nothing puts all the pressure on the person with the idea to create some momentum. Most of the time they will either give up, or someone else will quietly get a gun out and put the idea out of its misery. Your hands will be ...