Ghosts!

Most nonprofits I work with are haunted by phantom naysayers.

“I think we should do X, but our board chair/donors/founder/my boss will never support that.” It’s often regarding ideas that have only had glancing consideration at most, or that were turned down when the organization was facing different circumstances. For fear of being opposed, for fear of being told no, for fear of not being seen as the one with the right answers, or for being seen as out of step with the organization as a whole, these key ideas have been buried.

Decision makers then only receive a narrow spectrum of possibility. When compromise is reached, it’s from a set of options that have already been shortchanged. The needle barely moves, real change doesn’t happen.

The beauty in strategic planning is the opportunity for individual conversation and then group grappling. We put the real options on the table and work through whatever legitimate no arises. We have clarity on what our process and criteria for decision making are and commit to that rather than a set outcome. Sometimes in this process indeed the phantom naysayer takes real form, but more often I find that the person who is labeled as the obstacle to change just has concerns they want answered.

It's worth considering what things you would push for were it not for the person that you know will say no. And then? Go seek out your no. You might open someone’s perspective on possibilities, or have opportunity for more clarifying dialogue, or move a little closer to the desired outcome, or you might even get your yes.