Building a Network of Yes
The art of finding a way forward for your mission
Human organizations are funny things. On the surface, we generally all appear to be working towards some common direction, some common shared goal.
Dig a little deeper, though, and you’ll find pretty quickly there are really two camps in any group of people: the believers and drivers of the mission, and the blockers and deniers.
These blockers and deniers, let’s call them the No People. The No People don’t wake up each morning, look in the mirror as they get dressed and say ‘Well, it’s Tuesday. Can’t wait to get to the office and deny a colleague their request!’ But they do interpret their role in the mission differently than the Yes People.
The No People operate from a defensive point of view. They seek to ‘protect’ the organization from the foolish (if well-meaning) actions of their co-workers, employing ‘no’ as their primary means to that end. And a powerful tool it is.
The impact is bad enough in the short-term. Initiatives, products and services that could better address customer needs are bled to death by useless reviews, budget fights, political posturing and intentional-bottlenecking.
In the long-term, the results can be truly disastrous, as the ability and drive of the organization to innovate and evolve is stifled. People simply become unwilling to try, because they know the answer to what they propose, however well articulated, will be no.
There’s an equally powerful counterforce to the No People, however. A Network of Yes. And the members of that network are there across the organization, in all different functions, waiting to help make something great happen. But you have to find them first, and that takes effort. A Network of Yes starts with you.
As you meet and get to know your colleagues across the organization, ask them what they most need to be successful. Then help them in their own pursuit of the mission, even if it doesn’t directly affect you. By doing so, you build your Network of Yes. Your Network will remember your willingness to help, and respond in kind when the moment arrives.
As you develop these valuable relationships, don’t just build your network in familiar areas. If you’re in marketing and need some wiggle room in a process or budget cycle, the best Network of Yes in the world that’s composed entirely of marketing people won’t be of much use. Instead, find a way to assist your colleagues in finance or operations or legal. This might be as simple as explaining a market trend, answering a question about a client or product, or even just connecting that person to someone else.
Building a Network of Yes is an ongoing investment, one that you want to nurture and expand every day of your working life. It gets even more capable as you extend it outside of your organization (with partners, clients and influencers, for example). I also think it serves an equally important goal: reinforcing your faith in humanity, which is no small thing in this life.
And you know what? Helping others deliver on their own piece of the mission feels pretty great too. It also frosts the No People, which I always viewed as an added bonus, personally.
