Speaker 1: Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of iHeartRadio. Good Morning,
Speaker 1: This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast. Today's
Speaker 1: tip is to set the expectation that if anyone nixes
Speaker 1: a plan, they need to propose an alternative. No roadblocks
Speaker 1: without detours as a policy makes everything feel more fair.
Speaker 1: Today's tip comes from Amy Gallo, author of the new
Speaker 1: book Getting Along, How to Work with Anyone, even difficult people.
Speaker 1: In it, she describes nine archetypes of colleagues who can
Speaker 1: be hard to work with, and she offers strategies for
Speaker 1: working with them. One of those types is the pessimist.
Speaker 1: Nothing is ever going to work for this person. This
Speaker 1: can be a little frustrating if you are trying to
Speaker 1: collaborate with a pessimist. Gallo quotes a complaint about a
Speaker 1: pessimistic colleague. What he was doing, the person explained, felt
Speaker 1: like continually putting up roadblocks without providing a detour sign.
Speaker 1: I love that analogy, because literal roadblocks are sometimes necessary,
Speaker 1: maybe there's construction work underway, a flooded passage, or an
Speaker 1: accident that needs to be cleared. But roadblocks without posted
Speaker 1: detours can be frustrating and can feel unfair. What am
Speaker 1: I supposed to do If signs proclaimed this road is closed,
Speaker 1: but you don't tell me how to get to my destination,
Speaker 1: perhaps your map app can figure it out. But if
Speaker 1: you weren't running your map app, signage is helpful and
Speaker 1: makes it feel like whoever blocked the road actually cares
Speaker 1: if you get where you are going. In the professional contexts,
Speaker 1: figurative roadblocks can be just as frustrating. They are sometimes necessary.
Speaker 1: Not every idea is a great one. Sometimes you lack
Speaker 1: the budget or the manpower. Sometimes the team really did
Speaker 1: try that exact same thing five years ago before you joined.
Speaker 1: But simply saying no is seldom helpful. In a team context,
Speaker 1: whoever is saying no bears some responsibility for proposing an alternative.
Speaker 1: This might be a completely different approach from the one
Speaker 1: that had been offered, or it could be a way
Speaker 1: of addressing the issue that was that identified. Either way,
Speaker 1: the person doesn't say that won't work without also saying,
Speaker 1: but maybe this will. I can imagine having a team
Speaker 1: norm at work of the philosophy no roadblocks without detours.
Speaker 1: In other words, if a person expresses an objection, they
Speaker 1: are also responsible for proposing a solution. Once that norm
Speaker 1: is established, if a person names a problem, a colleague
Speaker 1: could say in a gentle way, what's the detour? This
Speaker 1: will hopefully nudge some ideas. You could have this norm
Speaker 1: in your family too. A kid announces that he doesn't
Speaker 1: want to go to day camp during fall break, which
Speaker 1: was your childcare plan? What alternative does he suggest? Your
Speaker 1: spouse says he can't pick up your daughter from soccer
Speaker 1: because he had to schedule a four thirty meeting. What's
Speaker 1: the detour? You can set a norm of no roadblocks
Speaker 1: without detours in your friends group too. Maybe you're trying
Speaker 1: to plan a fortieth birthday trip with your high school
Speaker 1: best friends and one person keeps shooting down all of
Speaker 1: the ideas. Ask for alternatives. It can be helpful when
Speaker 1: someone points out parts of a plan that might not work,
Speaker 1: but it is not okay to just be the naysayer.
Speaker 1: Roadblocks need detours if people are trying to get somewhere
Speaker 1: together in the meantime. This is Laura. Thanks for listening,
Speaker 1: and here's to making the most of our time. Thanks
Speaker 1: for listening to before breakfast. If you've got questions, ideas,
Speaker 1: or feedback, you can reach me at Laura at Laura
Speaker 1: vandercam dot com. Before Breakfast is a production of iHeartMedia.
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