Here's something for you to think about as we head into the new year 2020. In life, you have a choice when a proposal is presented to you. You can answer "Yes" or you can answer "No". Pretty simple, and not very thought provoking you may be thinking, but what I'd like to share with you today is the "why" behind the "No" response and why the "Yes" response is what we need to align ourselves with as we enter 2020.
I guess it would be best to remove the disclaimers first, so we are on the same page, a response of "No" is appropriate in cases of safety, morals, ethics, and when legality is in question. I am by no means advocating for lawlessness to prevail when it comes to questions seeking to get you to do something unacceptable in society or in the realm of law and order. A simple response of "No" is totally the right choice, but it is in those areas of moving people to action for the betterment of a cause or in making decisions about change in the way we do things that it is both undesirable and dangerous for anyone in a position that allows you the privilege of making those decisions to just say “No”. For my friend and colleague Daniel Aldridge, we have decided that when we get the quick answer "NO", all we can hear is, "It's ON!"
Just a simple inversion of two letters. One vowel and one consonant, yet the power that each word yields can make a monumental difference in the course of life for an individual or for a shift in the way business is conducted. In too many instances the quick responses to a proposed change in the normal accepted way of doing things, (i.e. routine) is "Well we tried that before and it didn't work", or "We can't do that", or maybe you've heard this one, "We haven't ever done that before so would it be fair?", in other words those responses could be replaced with two simple letters "NO". In matters that will impact lives that simple response "NO" is just that a simple response. Basically, what that response says is I don't want to give the effort it will require to try something different, that doesn't make it acceptable. It definitely doesn't make it right, and it isn't the mentality that has shaped this great country in which we live.
What if George Washington had said "No" when he was asked to lead the colonies to freedom from Great Britain? He could have said "We can't do that Mother England is a powerful country with all the resources and military might to squash any effort we might conceive to put into action." Wouldn't that have been the safe answer to give? Wouldn't that have assured that George Washington would not be associated with failure? Yet because he along with the other founding fathers of this great country did say "Yes" we now live in the land of the free and the home of the brave! That is a pretty dramatic characterization of how saying "No" can impact society, yet put it in terms of a suggestion to make a change in the way your office conducts business, or in my profession attempting to make a change in the way we “do” education. If the question is one that will ultimately impact a child's life, instead of saying "No" we need to be saying "Okay, it's On, let's try to come up with a way to make this happen". By giving the quick response of "No" we proclaim that we are completely satisfied with the status quo, in essence we are stating that we are comfortable with sitting in idle on the interstate of life.
The apostle Paul warns the church in Thessalonica about the dangers of sitting on your laurels and thus being stuck in idle in Thessalonians 3:6-15. Paul admonishes the believers by telling them that if they are idle, that basically is a disruption to progress. He goes on to say that if you aren’t willing to work towards progress and change then you basically aren't earning your keep and shouldn't be provided with the means by which you are able to pay your way in life. In other words, earn your keep. It's easy to say "No", it's easy to make excuses about why you are responding "No", and it doesn't require any energy or effort on your part to answer "No". Does that make it right? Or, does it make it the easy answer with the least amount of effort involved?
Back to the previous example given about sitting in idle on the interstate of life. Picture a car on one of the tracks like at an amusement park. Without any effort on the part of the driver of that car the car is going to go around and around that amusement ride. Will you get anywhere in life by sitting on that track, car in idle, following the path of the zillion other passengers that have rode that same round and round circular path? That to me is how someone responding "No" to a new idea lives their life. Is that a safe ride, absolutely, little risk, small investment of energy, and almost a guarantee that we won't fail, yet is that how we make progress and how we challenge the status quo? Not for me. When you tell me No, all I hear, see, and think is "It's On!". Let's put our heads together, let's brainstorm, why don't we come up with ten ways we could change it and then figure out which one is best for the recipient of the aforementioned change and then put a plan into place that will make it happen. Decisions in life are too important to those that will be impacted to sit in idle and continue going around and around in circles. The latter part of the message from Paul to the disciples in Thessalonica challenges them to "Never tire of doing good". Say yes till it hurts, say yes in matters of what is best for those that will be impacted not best for yourself because it will require the least amount of effort, remember sitting in idle? I’m not even suggesting that the choice of the “No” answer is even intentional, I believe we have just got caught in idle and that is where we are living.
As we barrel roll through this last few weeks of 2019, make a commitment, a resolution to hold back on the quick "No" response. Slow down, ask questions like "How?", "Why can't we?", and "What if?" before we blurt out that definitive short answer of "No". Saying no requires little effort, (sitting idle), instead when you face a dilemma or when someone proposes a new way, a new path, why not say to yourself and those you live and work with, "It's ON!!"
To paraphrase one of my favorite quotes from Winston Churchill which sums up today's FTM nicely,
"The pessimist sees the challenge in every opportunity, while the optimist sees the opportunity in every challenge."
Breaking the Norm in 2020!!
Coach Carter
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