Seth Godin has a great entry, Saying ‘no’.
No is the essence of project portfolio management, no matter who you are. If you don’t say No, your yes’s don’t mean anything.
As Seth says,
Saying no to loud people gives you the resources to say yes to important opportunities.
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Nice! After you master the “no”, become proficient in saying “kill.” That’s when you can really say you are managing your portfolios of project and programs.
Steve Romero, IT Governance Evangelist
http://community.ca.com/blogs/theitgovernanceevangelist/
Steve, did you see http://jrothman.com/blog/mpd/2008/11/abandoning-vs-killing-projects.html ?? Glad to hear you like the term “kill” when it comes to projects.
A suggestion: Carry a 3×5 card in your pocket with the letters N O written so big that they cover one side of the card. On the other side of the card write “I have permission to say “no” to people when it is the right thing to do.”
I think I could use some coaching in this area!
There are people who get off on saying “no.” They enjoy the power. We may take things out of context here. When your boss asks you if you can take on another assignment, your “no” is different from when a subordinate asks you if he can take the afternoon off.
The real trick is to say, “yes, but…” which means “no” with conditions. I’m sure a portfolio manager must justify his or her “no.” If conditions changed, your “no” might become a “yes.”