Most leaders will agree that organizational culture is an important part of any company’s success. Whether we are talking about team dynamics, morale, or simply performance; culture plays a pivotal role in a variety of key performance indicators. What is often overlooked or dismissed is the power of the word “no”. Often when I say the preceding statement, I get some odd or sideways looks and understandably so. Stay with me this will all make sense in a moment.

One of the most powerful reasons we should allow the word no to be a part of our culture is the risk of failure. There is that sideways look again. Let me explain what I mean. When we have a team of yes-men (or women) because we have a culture of everyone should get along and no one should ever rock the boat, we run the risk of failure. We run the risk of failure because when the train is coming off the rails no one wants to the be the negative Nancy and speak up. Have you ever worked with or for an organization and you could clearly see a variety of problems, and you knew you weren’t the only one that could see them, but for whatever reason the problems just seem to get ignored? This is because the word no was not part of their culture.

We also run the risk of failure when the word no is not a part of our culture because we engage in projects that we don’t believe in. We often engage in these projects because we feel obligated to go along with the social norms of our teams or our leaders. Sometimes we simply engage in projects we don’t’ believe in because we have no other choice. Whatever the reason is behind taking on these new projects or agendas the outcome is the same, failure. When people take on projects, directives or agendas that they can get behind; those projects often stand a better chance for success versus projects that they don’t believe in. Don’t get me started on self-fulfilling prophecies, but I think you get the idea.

The risk of failure is a powerful reason to have the word no as part of your culture, but even more impactful to a culture of “no” is the meaning that it gives to a “yes”. When you or someone on your team cannot use the word no, then a yes loses its meaning. If employees can’t have honest conversations, or feel they can say no, then yes means less. This creates all sorts of problems similar to the ones mentioned earlier with the risk of failure, but the biggest issue is lack of commitment.

When you have a yes culture where everyone simply agrees then you will have compliance and not commitment. I often hear leaders say they want their teams to agree with them, to go along with their plans, or to simply not create waves. This is often good for the leader, but not the success of the organization. Organizations and teams that have committed members, members that will walk through the fire to see something succeed, often outperform those that simply have compliant team members. How do you get commitment? You create a culture where yes means something, and to get that you must have a culture where team members can say no.

The power of the word no is profound, sometimes good and sometimes bad. However, the word no can be used to great affect if it is adopted as part of the culture. To ignore the power of no on an organizations culture is to risk failure. To seek compliance at the expense of commitment is a price that most organizations cannot afford to bare. If you want a thriving culture and a high performing team, then start with the word no.