Some songwriters can say things succinctly. As the Rolling Stones put it: “You can’t always get what you want. But if you try sometimes, you might find, you get what you need.”
One of my favorite lines to remember when trying to get a decision out of a stakeholder is a line from Rush: “If you choose not to decide, you still have made a choice.”
I was working on a project with a contracted maximum limit of requests per week. Occasionally we’d do 1 or 2 extra requests, but that didn’t happen often. This is more in keeping with the Rolling Stones’ lyrics I’ve referenced.
I don’t recommend indulging a stakeholder that way. In my experience, the stakeholders expect you to do more than contractually required every week. Then they get angry when you can’t. How dare you do the work you have contractually agreed to, and no more? Your maximum capacity is your maximum for a reason: you can’t comfortably and consistently do more than that.
Our contractually agreed maximum was 12 requests a week. That’s fine, until the stakeholder requested 15 in a very busy week. (Do you remember what I wrote earlier about the stakeholders expecting you to do more, since you indulged them three weeks ago? This is a prime example of what I’m talking about.)
I emailed the stakeholder to let him know that we were very busy this week and asked which 12 of the 15 requests we should complete this week. I really wasn’t shocked that he sent back an email lacking any answer to my question.
I reiterated that we couldn’t go beyond 12 requests this week and that I needed to know which 12 requests he wanted to prioritize. Twelve was the contractual maximum. As you might guess, the next stakeholder response still didn’t answer the question.
I can’t speak for the stakeholder, but I have a passing familiarity with Rush. In “Freewill” they sing, “If you choose not to decide, you still have made a choice.” I could see this stakeholder was choosing not to decide. That was his choice. No problem.
I emailed back that if he didn’t provide me with the 12 requests he wanted us to prioritize for this week, we would simply complete the first 12 he sent and let the remaining three wait. I listed the 12 requests we would be working on this week. I then asked him to confirm that list or to suggest changes.
Funnily enough, his next email clearly indicated which 12 requests he wanted us to complete this week and which three should sit until next week. We completed the requests on time. The stakeholder didn’t overburden us the next week.
Sometimes there is wisdom in songs. If your choice is not to decide, someone else will. The resulting decision might not be the optimal choice for you.
What’s your experience with this?