It's More Important Than Ever to Say No

Happy Friday,

People pitch cool new ideas and new initiatives to leaders all the time. They're always well-intentioned, and many make good sense when the organization and employees are viewed in the aggregate.

But a consulting business isn't a single aggregated entity. It has three VERY distinct and very different parts, and it behooves leaders to see it that way. In order of importance: 1) a relatively small number of people who win and lead most of the work, 2) billable staff who rely on and support the first group, and 3) everyone else, including leaders, employed to support the billable staff. Everyone in the organization owes their job and their compensation to the people in Group 1.

Business decisions should, therefore, be judged by their impact on Group 1. Anything that diminishes this group's productivity, creativity, dedication, or loyalty threatens everyone.

So, all new ideas and initiatives should be viewed through that lens. If it creates an unwanted distraction, the cost is more than you think. Not just money and time; it’s the cost of context-switching, lost focus, scattered efforts, half-finished ideas, and frustration. Every quick meeting, simple initiative, fun idea, employee survey, training requirement, memo, virtuous cause, and fad you embrace chips away at the core value your business provides and the deep-thinking clients hire you for. Saying ‘yes’ makes it easy to drown in "good ideas" while key staff get more frustrated and core work suffers. Just ask them.

If it adds even a momentary distraction, it should be highly scrutinized, but the default answer should be NO.

Now More Than Ever

With AI poised to automate routine engineering tasks, your competitive edge will hinge almost entirely on unique human qualities like creativity and innovation. These require what has become increasingly rare: clear, undistracted minds.

The engineering work that machines can't replace requires deep focus without interruption, mental space to explore unconventional solutions, time to wrestle with complex problems, energy for breakthrough thinking, and clarity to spot hidden patterns and opportunities.

Each interruption is lost cognitive bandwidth. Lost innovation. Lost competitive edge. Going forward, your business will depend heavily on the cognitive bandwidth of your team. Bandwidth needs to be valued and protected.

Here's a framework for saying no: "Our value proposition as an organization depends on our ability to think deeply and solve complex problems. Every distraction erodes this critical capability. We're not just protecting time; we're protecting what distinguishes (company name), our competitive advantage, now and in an AI-driven future."

Have a great weekend,

Dave

Feedback and blowback are always welcome: dave@goodnewsfriday.com

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