I was once in a meeting with the CEO and the chief technology officer of a medium-sized company. Also on the call were members of their technology and marketing teams. The CEO, named Gary, and the marketing team wanted to change the company’s pricing models, but they anticipated the company’s financial systems would not support their plans. The conversation between Gary and the CTO, Anderson, went something like this:
“We need to introduce new pricing as soon as possible. Can the financial systems support bundled pricing?” Gary asked.
“No,” Anderson responded, “they cannot.”
“Of course not. How silly of me!” Gary responded sarcastically. “Can they support subscription-based pricing?”
“No, they cannot,” Anderson replied again.
There was a protracted pause. Eventually Gary spoke again, “Anderson, I hate it when you do this. Stop being so stubbornly literal! Stop forcing me to ask questions in exactly the right way before we get to the answer we need.”
Anderson seemed shocked and responded, “Gary, I’m not forcing you to do anything. I’m simply answering your questions.”
“Is that right?” Gary sniped.
“Yes, it is.”
“Okay, how about this question?” Gary continued. “If we postpone another strategic project and free up engineering resources, can your team modify the financial systems to support bundled and subscription pricing?”
Anderson paused only briefly before responding, “Yes, we can.”
“Yes?!” Gary quipped. “Wow, finally! Fantastic. Why couldn’t you say that
in the first place?”
“That’s not what you asked.”
Laypeople, including some corporate leaders, at times complain that SMEs torture them with precise language. It is common for an SME’s blunt no answer to be interpreted as stonewalling, or worse yet, adversarial or hostile. Of course, SMEs have the right to use candid language unapologetically. A byproduct of expertise is precision; therefore, it is natural for SMEs to prefer exactness, including a generous allotment of noes. But SMEs should not be surprised when laypeople, including executives, respond negatively to their exactitude. SMEs often learn late in their careers that you can accomplish the same results with a yes as you can with a no, and your audience will be much happier during and after the conversation. Take the example I just shared. Rather than saying no to virtually everything Gary asked, I believe that Anderson could have achieved the same result while using a more agreeable tone.
Gary: “Can the financial systems support bundled pricing?”
Anderson: “As we all know, the current financial systems are constraining and brittle. They do not support bundled pricing, nor do they support subscriptions. But, yes, we might be able to adjust. How important is this pricing strategy?”
Gary: “It’s important, obviously, or we wouldn’t be talking about it.”
Anderson: “I see. Yes, we can assign engineers to change the financial systems, but that will take them away from other strategic initiatives. Are the pricing changes more important than our team’s current assignments?”
Gary: “Yes, pricing is the top priority.”
Anderson: “OK. Yes, if we delay the other projects, we can modify the financial systems to support the pricing the company needs.”
I have been impressed at how effective yes can be and amazed at how much more productive a dialogue can be when SMEs apply this simple concept. Look for ways to say yes.
