Last week, a partner at work sent us a request. It was about whether we’d sponsor a promotion for the launch of a course we’d developed together. We hadn’t agreed to this in our original contract, so the issue was up for discussion. It was around 10 days before the go-live.
The email thread had multiple people on it, and everyone replied to different parts. Here’s a bit of copy for the landing page, there’s an update to the press release, and so on. The promotion idea would have sat with one of our colleagues, but, on the first day, he didn’t reply. The next day, my boss tagged him in, suggesting he was the one with the expertise to assess this opportunity. He didn’t reply. I wrote an email breaking down the ask in two sentences to make it easier for him to give his input. Once again, he didn’t reply.
After about 48 hours, my team started running with it. We contacted legal, told the partner we were assessing it, and so on. It’s now been over a week since the original request, and I have yet to hear the thoughts from the guy who supposedly knows best how to handle such a situation.
The incident got me thinking about inaction as a form of communication. If you get a request, and you choose not to do it, that’s the obvious scenario. And in most cases, you’ll clearly say no, and everyone will be informed. But what about if you want to do it but can’t get to it? What if you agree initially but can’t find the time? It turns out that, sooner or later, inaction will do the talking for you.
How much time must pass depends on the situation, but eventually, inaction becomes your statement. As with words, people will interpret your statement differently. Some will think you didn’t care or are lazy. Some will believe you’re just busy. Others might forget the whole issue themselves.
The part you don’t have when you let inaction speak is control. You can decline in a million ways. Kindly. Aggressively. Apologetically. But you can’t make up people’s minds for them. That they’ll do on their own.
It’s true that, often, talking is silver and silence is gold. But whether elected or enforced by circumstance, once you know inaction is the answer, you might want to settle for second place.
