Like so many of us, you have probably been there before, in a meeting room, standing in front of your colleagues, PowerPointing your way to getting buy-in on a business plan. You’re just about to start the wrap-up when the saboteur strikes: “But we tried that two years ago and it didn’t get us anywhere. And you think it’s going to work now, in this economy?”
At best, the saboteur is a skeptic, but at worst—as is usually the case—you’re facing a naysayer, someone who makes a habit of shooting people down, whether in a business meeting or at the local pub. “The role of a naysayer is a natural one,” says Lorne Whitehead. “He or she is out there in all parts of society. It’s simple human nature.”
Whitehead is the-coauthor of Buy-In: Saving Your Good Idea from Getting Shot Down. Along with Harvard Business School professor John Kotter, Whitehead has written a virtual one-stop reference resource for turning congenital saboteurs or mere critics into true believers.
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