# Saying No By:: [[Brian Heath]] 2022-12-23 Have you ever experienced a manager wanting less from you? They always want more. Give them exactly what they ask for and they want more. Over-deliver and they will always expect that level of effort going forward. Furthermore, even if they understand the capacity is low and agree to expect less, they will still expect more. It's like those plastic zip ties - they can only be ratcheted tighter but never loosened. Eventually, you quit because you've had enough, or you're let go because the company is incompetent. The cycle then repeats, except maybe this time you hold back more and do less from the start as everyone knows the endpoint. An alternate strategy is to reject the idea that you are beholden to the manager's expectations. Reject the game when it doesn't work for your purpose but embrace it when it does. Who says you have to meet your manager's expectations anyways? Sure, there might be a risk of losing your job, but this risk exists regardless. There are plenty of good workers who lose their jobs - they are not immune. Worst yet, some good workers hate their job and would be much better off somewhere else, but they find themselves stuck in this management expectation loop of death until they can no longer feel their fingers and toes. If saying no sounds dangerous, here is something to consider: most managers are horrible at their job, and their work actions do not align with their self-identity. So, how do you think they will respond if you are a good worker but tell them that you aren't going to do something? How often have they been told no and had to deal with it? The cognitive dissonance will ring in their ears, and they won't know what to do. So, why not try it well before you reach the breaking point? This is by no means a foolproof plan, and there are risks. However, there are always risks, and sometimes we need our eyes opened to the other extreme to see the silent risks. Just because we were trained to behave a certain industrial way in school doesn't mean we have to keep playing the game when it doesn't suit us. This is the age of choice, now you have to choose. #### Related Items [[Management]] [[Work]] [[Layoffs]] [[Self-Actualization]] [[Business]] [[Paradigms]]