I don't think this is a good idea
Handling pushback at work
If you are reading this, that means I've successfully forced myself to press “publish”. I feel that this newsletter could be much better. But I am trying to take this writing thing less seriously and just do it. So here it goes.
The first few times my manager pushed back against my ideas, I was sure she didn’t like me. Because why else could she not see how awesome and revolutionary my suggestions were?
At some point, I stopped speaking out and felt disillusioned. I decided that I would not say a word if all I was going to get was a “no” or a “yes but”. I was standing at the edge of the worker disengagement cliff for many months.
It took me one year to realize that my manager didn’t dislike me. All she wanted was for me to share my ideas “the right way”.
Lemme give you more context so you understand how I shared ideas in the past.
I’d stop in the middle of a sentence and share a cool idea that popped up while I was speaking. And yes, these ideas were cool and would help us reach our marketing goals but they were missing a few things.
The idea was not documented.
I had not weighed the pros and cons yet.
I had not considered the time, effort, and resources it would take our 3 person team to implement.
I had not tied them to our marketing goals and company-wide goals.
Now, it was obvious to me how my ideas would work but I didn't consider that other people were not part of the conversation in my head.
Now when I suggest things, I follow a different approach.
Before I share my ideas, I think through them. I ask myself questions that I know my manager might have about importance, timelines, resources, risks, and benefits.
When I share it, I don't drop the idea like a bomb. I share a document that spells out the important parts of my idea. Sometimes I present it to her live, sometimes I make a Loom video. Either way, documenting my idea gives her something concrete to examine. Instead of forcing her to dig through my “eureka” moments that occur mid-meeting.
Also, I stopped expecting her to say yes to my ideas. She might have a good reason for pushing back. And sometimes, she might say no because it's not the right time. When that happens, I file my idea away for later.
I feel much better about collaborating with my team and expressing myself than I did a year ago. I hope my experience helps you.
I’ll end with a helpful quote from Carl Franklin Braun from his book, Fair Thought and Speech
“No matter how clear and fair a case may seem to us, somebody is apt to disagree. And this is good, for we need the stimulation of disagreement. Let’s question his information, his reasoning, his conclusions — but never his motives. If we start assuming or imputing ill motives, we lose all chance of influencing our listeners. But even worse, we degrade ourselves.”
Till next week 👋🏾.