Culture story: From not to say No to saying No - 05/24

Fresh out of college in 2007, I embarked on my career journey at Larsen & Toubro as a project engineer for an Oil & Gas platform development project. On-site, the prevailing ethos was to avoid outright refusal. My manager advocated for diplomacy in responses, ensuring the other party understood a refusal without explicitly hearing "no." Additionally, email was primarily viewed as a tool for escalation rather than direct communication. The preferred approach involved verbal negotiations or appeals with vendors, colleagues, or other teams to accomplish tasks. Only after repeated attempts at resolution were we expected to resort to email, making the process quite cumbersome.

Following my completion of an MBA in 2012, I transitioned to KPIT, which fostered a service-oriented culture. Here, it was not only acceptable but encouraged to decline requests if they were not feasible. The protocol involved initiating communication via email first, followed by discussion. Personally, I found solace in this culture and felt more at ease. 

P.S. The above story is not about L&T or KPIT. Thanks to the direct communication culture in KPIT, I was left with mental bandwidth to say no without saying no for personal use. 

I got married in 2012 and I leveraged this art while communicating with my wife, offcourse, it never works but atleast I try.... (below is the 2013 photo of international trip for my in-laws side marriage for which I tried saying no without saying no)

Follow me on LinkedIn