Did you know that lack of commitment, product scope creep, burnout, bad employee experience, and shaky employer brand can have common ground?
It can be as simple as saying “Yes” to your boss when you wanted to say “No”, saying “Yes” to that shiny feature you think your customers would love, saying “Yes” to your colleague’s request when you haven’t finished your own urgent tasks yet, etc.
Unlike the “Yes Man” movie with Jim Carrey, the psychological costs of saying “yes” to everything are pretty similar:
- bad relationships
- anxiety
- stress
- depression
- burnout
- breakups and divorce
Turn that to the product level and you get:
- product scope creep
- features/products that nobody needed
- time & money wasted
Turn that to the team and company level and you get:
- lack of commitment/broken promises/unmet deadlines
- regular conflicts/toxic environment
- bad employee experience
- staff turnover
- bad employer brand, affecting your business’s ability to attract top talents
- possibly, end of the runway if you work at a startup
It does not matter whether you are at work or at home. Can you say ‘no’ to your customer, boss, colleague, or your friend?