Recorded at
Philadelphia, United States
—
Speaking
The Quiet Discipline of Saying No
Strategy as subtraction: how leaders protect focus when every request is reasonable on its own terms.
Event
Wharton Executive Education
Location
Philadelphia, United States
Audience
Senior leaders and general managers
Format options
50-minute keynote, half-day workshop
Strategy as subtraction: how leaders protect focus when every request is reasonable on its own terms. A session about refusal, and why it is a strategic act rather than an administrative one.
The argument
Prioritisation frameworks assume the problem is ranking. It rarely is. The problem is that each individual commitment is defensible, the sum of them is not, and nobody is asked to defend the sum. Focus is therefore maintained by subtraction, and subtraction requires someone willing to say no in public.
The talk treats refusal as a skill with a technique: what to decline, how to explain it, and how to avoid the impression that the answer was really about capacity.
The three-commitment exercise
Participants name three current commitments that are reasonable individually and indefensible together. Almost everyone can. Very few have said so aloud before, which is usually the moment the session becomes practical. It pairs well with the strategy essays published alongside it.
Who it is for
Senior leaders and general managers carrying more mandates than attention. Strong fit for executive education and off-site formats. To check availability, enquire about a date.
Book this talk
Bring this talk to your own room.
This session travels as a keynote, a longer workshop, a fireside, or a closed board sitting, adapted to the audience rather than repeated verbatim. Send the date and who will be in the room, and you’ll hear back directly within two working days.
Related talks
Recorded at
Philadelphia, United States
—
Speaking
The Quiet Discipline of Saying No
Strategy as subtraction: how leaders protect focus when every request is reasonable on its own terms.
Event
Wharton Executive Education
Location
Philadelphia, United States
Audience
Senior leaders and general managers
Format options
50-minute keynote, half-day workshop
Strategy as subtraction: how leaders protect focus when every request is reasonable on its own terms. A session about refusal, and why it is a strategic act rather than an administrative one.
The argument
Prioritisation frameworks assume the problem is ranking. It rarely is. The problem is that each individual commitment is defensible, the sum of them is not, and nobody is asked to defend the sum. Focus is therefore maintained by subtraction, and subtraction requires someone willing to say no in public.
The talk treats refusal as a skill with a technique: what to decline, how to explain it, and how to avoid the impression that the answer was really about capacity.
The three-commitment exercise
Participants name three current commitments that are reasonable individually and indefensible together. Almost everyone can. Very few have said so aloud before, which is usually the moment the session becomes practical. It pairs well with the strategy essays published alongside it.
Who it is for
Senior leaders and general managers carrying more mandates than attention. Strong fit for executive education and off-site formats. To check availability, enquire about a date.
Book this talk
Bring this talk to your own room.
This session travels as a keynote, a longer workshop, a fireside, or a closed board sitting, adapted to the audience rather than repeated verbatim. Send the date and who will be in the room, and you’ll hear back directly within two working days.