Purchasing Coach: Advent Window 18: Say yes (or no)

25 unconventional coaching and facilitation tools to surprise and delight

In November when I started to plan this series of posts I thought that 'saying yes' would be a great tool to include.

The idea is not to say "No" to life, but instead to say "Yes" and notice what transpires.

Last year when I did something different every day for 28 days I was amazed at how often I said "No", and as a result how repetitive life had got.

Saying yes, takes you into new surroundings, to meet new people, or try new experiences and to find solutions outside your comfort zone, solutions currently sitting in the middle of your 'don't know what I don't know' area. (Who knew that coffee wasn't so bitter if you added sugar!)

After yesterday's post where one of the insights was that I had permission to say No, I wonder if there's also a tool about saying No too. Especially useful when we find ourselves far to often saying "yes of course I'll do that" "yes of course I'll move my diary" "yes of course I'll cancel my plans for you" when we know the honest answer, the one that supports our values and well being, is "No I'm sorry, not this time."

Where do you need to say Yes more, and no less?

Where do you need to say No more, and yes less?

Will you make the change?

And if so, what's stopping you from starting this very minute?

Alison Smith
Unlocking procurement potential - using conventional and unconventional tools
Procurement and Business Speaker, Coach, Trainer, & Facilitator
alison@alisonsmith.eu +44 (0)7770 538159

Earlier in the year I applied some of the unconventional tools shared in this series of advent posts to common procurement challenges - more here.