Working Wounded: Just Say No
Nov. 18, 2005 — -- DEAR WOUNDED: My boss recently chided me for sticking with a project for too long. How can you tell when it's time to pull the plug?
ANSWER: When I first pitched Working Wounded to a newspaper, I was looking for a full-time position. The editor loved it and offered me $150 a week. But I was depressed. Then the editor said, "Of course, you can sell it to any other paper you'd like." And that launched the column you are now reading.
I ended up saying "no" to my day job to focus on building a writing and speaking business. Your boss is right; many people are unable to look past what they currently are doing to ask, "Is this what I should be doing?" I've included some questions below to help you decide if you should keep doing what you're doing or move on. For more, check out "Leadership and the Art of Change" by Lee Roy Beach, one of the world's top decision scientists (Sage, 2005).
Do you know what your goal is? There are often so many interesting things to do at work. The challenge is to focus your best efforts on the greatest opportunities. That's why it's so important to write down your goals and to constantly update them. Yes, it is important to be in sync with your boss and your organization's goals, but don't overlook your own.
Has the goal been achieved? Duh! Think about it, if you don't know your goals, how will you ever know if you've achieved them? I'm a big believer in the "law of diminishing returns," where we keep doing something even though the returns just keep shrinking. It's important to find ways to make tangible the results of your efforts, so you can see if it's time to redouble your efforts or move on.
Is the goal hopeless? Don't get me wrong, great breakthroughs have been made because people put effort into projects that appeared hopeless. But more often than not, we just keep throwing good effort after bad. So it's important to avoid continuing to do something merely because of pride. Accepting defeat gracefully and moving on is something that many people are unable to do.
Are there barriers to stopping? Ironically, we tend to overlook that once we start putting effort into something it can be tough to pull the plug. Why? Well, we're back to that five-letter word that can create havoc at work -- pride. We've got to learn to resist the temptation of sticking with a project or process long past the point of it being worthwhile simply to feed our pride.
Is it time to see if there is a second right answer? Ending a certain approach may feel like a big deal. So you might want to consider taking some of the pressure off by thinking of it as experimenting with a new approach.
Before you can just say "No," you've got to just say "know" to your goals and other opportunities.
We'd like to hear your strategy for saying no at work. I'll give an autographed copy of "Working Wounded: Advice That Adds Insight to Injury" (Warner, 2000) to the best submission. Send your entry, name and address via: http://workingwounded.com or via e-mail: bob@workingwounded.com. Entries must be received by Wednesday, Nov. 23.
Here are the results from a recent workingwounded.com/ABCNEWS.com online ballot:
Our winning strategy for managing your boss comes from S.W. in New York, N.Y..:
"1. Determine her working style. Does she like to know all the details and kept informed during every step of the process or does she prefer periodic, brief updates?
2. Anticipate her needs. Find out what she expects of you and be prepared to deliver.
3. Determine her priorities. Make sure you are paying attention to what she thinks is most important, and reconfirm your list of priorities with her periodically.
4. Be her ally. Once you know her needs, be helpful by suggesting more efficient procedures. See if you can help her with things she is frustrated with."
Bob Rosner is a best-selling author, speaker and internationally syndicated columnist. His newest best seller, "Gray Matters: The Workplace Survival Guide" (Wiley, 2004), is a business comic book that trades cynicism for solutions. Ask Bob a question: bob@workingwounded.com or http://graymattersbook.com. ABCNEWS.com publishes a new Working Wounded column every Friday.
This work is the opinion of the columnist and in no way reflects the opinion of ABC News.
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