Negative Branch Reservation
For the yes, but that will cause a problem
takiconsulting.nz
Somebody has said "yes, but that will cause..." and they might well be right. This is for taking that seriously instead of arguing it away.
A person who tells you what will go wrong has thought about your idea harder than the people nodding along. What they are usually missing is not judgement, it is that the bad outcome only follows if every step in between holds. Lay the steps out and one of them is normally optional.
1. The two ends
In their words, not your summary of it.
Optional, and worth writing down. They should be in the room when you trim it.
2. Every step in between
Build the chain from the change to the bad outcome. Small steps. If two steps need a leap of faith to connect, there is a missing step between them and that gap is often where the answer is.
3. Trim the branch
Find the step that does not have to follow from the one above it, then add something that makes sure it does not. You are not arguing the objection away. You are making it untrue.
This goes into the plan as a condition it has to satisfy. Tell the person who raised it that it is in there because of them.
Do you need a hand with this?
The hard part is trimming the branch without making the person who raised it feel argued with. Get that wrong and they stop telling you what will go wrong, which costs you far more than the objection did.
Send it through and I will look at it properly. Doing this on factory floors since 2005, and 300 businesses later. You will get a straight answer about what I would do next, and whether that is something you need me for at all.
Your negative branch reservation is sent with the message. No charge, no obligation.
Stuck on it?
These are simple to draw and hard to fill in honestly. If you want a second pair of eyes on yours, that is a thirty minute conversation and it costs nothing.
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