«However» — One Word Converted Brilliant People Into Minions

Discover how one word doomed entire teams, and how we created the defense.

Have you ever been in a meeting where you knew exactly what you wanted to discuss and the possible actions to take it forward, but somehow, once it ended, all your ideas and contributions were dismissed, and you didn’t know how?

If that’s the case, you’re not alone. That same problem has been happening in some meetings of one of my clients, and all that they had in common was the same person. And it wasn’t just me; many other members of that organization felt frustrated meeting after meeting due to the lack of progress.

And all of it was because of one single word: “However”.

It wasn’t because other members of the organization didn’t have good ideas or strategies. Some of them had the best ones! But it was because the very same mechanisms that allow people to move forward were used against themselves. The word “However”, with a very specific technique, turned everyone around into minions. People without will, incapable of improving or contributing; all preventing the correct development of the organization.

After several meetings, I discovered what was happening. And more importantly, it wasn’t just the “however” word…