It’s still OK to say ‘no’

Our responsibility is to optimise value. If a proposal for action provides little confidence that it will improve value then it’s our job to question further - and sometimes, we’ll find that there’s a better opportunity. It’s our responsibility, along with other professions like business analysis and portfolio management, to help our colleagues to reprioritise work based on return on investment when we can see better alternatives. Sometimes this means saying ‘no’ - constructively, based on analysis of assumptions underpinning investment proposals - but ‘no’ nonetheless. We need to work with other value-focussed professions to create an organisational culture where this is OK. We also need to give the profession as a whole permission to work in this way.