Buy-in: Saving Your Good Ideas from Getting Shot Down

Employment law attorney Michael P. Maslanka reviews Buy-in: Saving Your Good Ideas from Getting Shot Down by John P. Kotter, finding that it gives good advice on handling common objections to new ideas.

I highly recommend John P. Kotter’s new book Buy-In: Saving Your Good Idea from Getting Shot Down, which teaches you how to save an idea under attack by coworkers. First , he says don’t fire back if your idea is attacked. Instead, make efforts to understand the person’s point of view and respond respectfully.

Second , and this is harder to do for most people, do not meet objections with more facts, more information, and more argument. Here’s Kotter: “We found that the most effective people, instead of just spraying verbal bullets, respond in a way that is not only respectful but very short, simple, clear, and filled with common sense.”

Kotter lists common objections to new ideas and suggests that if you’re promoting a new idea, review those objections and develop answers in advance. Here are my favorite three objections: (1) “We’re successful. Why change?”(2) “No one else does this.” (3) “It’s just too much work to do this.” He provides some answers to those objections. The book is nice and short, just the way a business book should be. Take a read.

Michael Maslanka is a partner in the Dallas, Texas, office of Constangy, Brooks & Smith, LLP. He has 30 years of experience in litigation and trial of employment law cases. He is the editor of Texas Employment Law Letter, and he also authors the “Work Matters” blog for Texas Lawyer.