Saying no, up
A short script for declining a request from leadership without burning the relationship.
By Marco Reyes
Saying no up is a skill, not a personality. Most engineers and PMs avoid it because they have never had a script. Here is one that works, with the reasoning behind it.
The script
I can do that. Here is what I would deprioritize to make room, and the cost of each. Which would you like me to move?
The script does three things. It does not refuse. It makes the tradeoff explicit. And it hands the decision back to the person who owns the priorities, which is where the decision belongs.
Why it works
Leadership rarely has the context to know what gets cut when a new thing is added. By naming the cost and offering the choice, you stop being the bottleneck and start being the advisor. The relationship stays intact, and the roadmap stays honest.
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