Being a Yes man

When people think of yes men, they tend to think of spineless lackeys who bow, scrape and bob their heads at anything their boss says. I came across a particularly chilling quote from Hermann Goering at the Nuremberg trials:

"... alles was er um ihn hatte, waren ja Männer, alle keine Männer waren sechs Fuß darunter." (Translation - all he [Hitler] had around him were yes-men, all the no-men were six feet under.)

Shawn Wood has a superb post over on Dumb Little Man with a very different angle on the subject of being a yes man or woman. His thinking is that saying "No" strips you of influence and can engender distrust among your colleagues. Better to be positive, to be seen as being positive and to exert greater influence and control over the outcome of the situation. Extract:

Five ways to say yes and never say no:

• Yes. I can do this in your timeframe and in your budget.

• Yes. I can do this in your budget but I am going to have to change the timeframe.

• Yes. I can do this, but not in your timeframe or your budget. Let's negotiate.

• Yes. I can do this, but I do not think it is the best way. May I make suggestions?

• Yes, I can have someone else do this for you.