Ask for no, don't ask for yes (2022)
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Ask for no, don't ask for yes (2022)
1–10 of 286 posts
Re: Ask for no, don't ask for yes (2022)
#2Before reading the article, I parsed the title as "ask for permission only if you want a 'no', otherwise don't ask for permission and just do it".
Re: Ask for no, don't ask for yes (2022)
#3Why bother. If the company doesn't want to respond in the affirmative to a valuable idea that has been communicated clearly, let it torpedo itself and dig its grave. Whatever the answer, the outcome will be righteous. In the bigger scheme of things, it is better to evolve companies that answer optimally. There is no need to ever bend over backwards to save a company that is not your own.
Re: Ask for no, don't ask for yes (2022)
#4It is an irrelevant optimization unless you own a lot of equity in the company.
Re: Ask for no, don't ask for yes (2022)
#5Why bother. If the company doesn't want to respond in the affirmative to a valuable idea that has been communicated clearly, let it torpedo itself and dig its grave. Whatever the answer, the outcome will be righteous. In the bigger scheme of things, it is better to evolve companies that answer optimally. There is no need to ever bend over backwards to save a company that is not your own.
Unless you have a limited pool of opportunities. If so, educate and demonstrate value. Maybe even if pool isn’t super limited.
Re: Ask for no, don't ask for yes (2022)
#6It is an irrelevant optimization unless you own a lot of equity in the company.
No, it also helps you progress in your career faster, boosting your own ability to get things done and hence your bargaining position.
Re: Ask for no, don't ask for yes (2022)
#7This is a variation of a sales tactic which says to not give people the option to say no but instead only give them affirmative options.
E.g., Not "When can we talk about this deeper?" But "Would Tuesday at 1 or Wednesday at 3 be better for a follow-up?"
Re: Ask for no, don't ask for yes (2022)
#8Before reading the article, I parsed the title as "ask for permission only if you want a 'no', otherwise don't ask for permission and just do it".
I initially parsed as text variant of this video: https://youtu.be/-vZXgApsPCQ
Re: Ask for no, don't ask for yes (2022)
#9Why bother. If the company doesn't want to respond in the affirmative to a valuable idea that has been communicated clearly, let it torpedo itself and dig its grave. Whatever the answer, the outcome will be righteous. In the bigger scheme of things, it is better to evolve companies that answer optimally. There is no need to ever bend over backwards to save a company that is not your own.
You just may, at some point, find yourself in a situation where your goal is not to "evolve a company", but instead to work with the people at hand to get something done.
In that case, remembering that "it's easier to get forgiveness than ask for permission" is a valuable tool to have in your repertoire.
Re: Ask for no, don't ask for yes (2022)
#10Why bother. If the company doesn't want to respond in the affirmative to a valuable idea that has been communicated clearly, let it torpedo itself and dig its grave. Whatever the answer, the outcome will be righteous. In the bigger scheme of things, it is better to evolve companies that answer optimally. There is no need to ever bend over backwards to save a company that is not your own.
Sometimes the ask is something that you want to improve your own experience at the company. Let's say the ask involves improving the quality of the code that you work on every day. You know your boss will not say "yes" because refactoring does not have an apparent value. But you are confident that if you can some time to work exclusively on some refactor, it will be a benefit not only to the company, but to your future self. I think the advice in the article is a solid way to go about asking for that.