In my travels, talking to trainers, consultants, and most importantly, customers and consumers of those services, a clear pattern emerges about one of the most common reasons training and consulting fail. On one level it’s simple. Training and consulting interventions fail because they are badly conceived, too limited in scope, allocated insufficient resources, or are in plain terms, a bad idea in the first place.
But how do these projects go ahead? Isn’t it the consultant’s or trainer’s responsibility to simply say NO to jobs where it’s impossible to succeed? Well, it certainly should be and that’s part of the expertise that we bring to the table and for which we get paid. Well, for some of us anyway.
Unfortunately, many trainers and consultants are not keen to say no. Particularly in tough economic times, consultants and trainers also need to put bread on the table, and the more desperate the person, the more likely they will accept something they should not accept. Or, some consultants believe that saying yes, even to a flawed project, will get the foot in the door, so that down the road, more worthwhile and valuable results can be created.
Saying Yes, When NO Is The Right Answer is A Bad Idea
If you have trouble saying No, consider this list of possible negative outcomes. Compare it to any positive outcomes you might believe will result from saying yes instead of no.
- If the probability of failure is high, and failure, even partial, does occur, YOUR credibility and perceived value will drop, not only with the current client, but with other potential clients with whom your original client interacts. Fail enough, and you may be out of business.
- When you say yes when you ought to say no, and you do so knowingly, you damage your image of yourself as a competent, ethical practitioner. As the saying goes: “In the end, can you live with your decision?”
- When you undertake a low probability for success venture, and you do fail, it may cause you to start doubting your own professional abilities, and affect your confidence levels for other projects. Failures will happen, of course, but use your knowledge and wisdom to avoid them if they are foreseeable.
- Even if you are an internal employee, failure (or the absence of success) demeans the reputation of the FUNCTION (e.g. the training function, the organizational development function. That means that you and your department become less valuable and less well regarded.
Are there other reasons to say no? Probably. Feel free to add yours, and your take on how, when and why to say no regarding consulting or training interventions. Just use the comment facility below.
