Part 1: How to Say No Without Killing Entrepreneurial Spirit

Innovation doesn't happen in a silo - discussing assumptions is critical

I was talking with a client the other week, a senior executive, about a challenge that shows up in almost every organization trying to innovate. There are a lot of ideas floating around, but not every idea makes sense from a business perspective. So the question becomes: how do you say no to those ideas without killing people's energy and creativity?

This client was thoughtful. They didn't just want to shut things down. They wanted to handle it in a way that still encourages an entrepreneurial mindset. And I get that. I've been there.

When I led an innovation team across Europe, I was often asked to say no to initiatives coming from different manufacturing sites. Some of those ideas were brilliant. They were grounded in real needs and had great potential. But often, the answer was, "Someone else is already working on it" or "There will be a solution rolling out in two or three years."

The problem is, by the time those global solutions arrive, the momentum is gone. The value is lost. And the people who had the initiative in the first place? They stop trying.

But I also saw the other side: when everyone starts running in different directions, you get duplication, wasted money, and initiatives that never move beyond the pilot stage. Lots of activity, but nothing that actually gets adopted and scaled.

So we need to be careful. Saying no too quickly can shut down exactly the kind of thinking we want more of. But we can't say yes to everything either.

This is where leadership comes in.

In my research on what makes intrapreneurs succeed, I found three conditions that matter most: clarity (knowing what good looks like), safety (permission to test and learn from failure), and structure (clear pathways from idea to adoption).

When you're evaluating an idea, you're not just deciding yes or no. You're teaching people how to think strategically about innovation. That means:

• Building clarity: Help people understand what a solid business case looks like, not as a barrier, but as a tool

• Creating safety: Make it okay to surface risks early and test assumptions honestly

• Providing structure: Show them the pathway from pilot to scale, so they know what it takes to go from "interesting idea" to "embedded solution"

Instead of a hard no, it becomes:

"This doesn't work right now, and here's why. But here are the conditions under which it could work."

In some cases, that means asking:

• Can we test a temporary solution to learn something now?

• Is there a low-risk way to validate the core assumption?

• If this were your own business, would you invest in this today?

The Discipline of Real Innovation

And let's be honest. Real entrepreneurship means testing assumptions, not hiding behind them.

Sometimes in big companies, we want something to work so badly that we reshape the story around it. We say, "The customer wants this," based on one conversation. Or we fall into the trap of, "We have this solution, now let's find a problem it can solve."

I've seen teams pitch robotics solutions that were already being piloted globally. Instead of just saying no, we connected them to the central team, had them test locally, and capture site-specific insights. Two years later, when the global solution rolled out, those sites were ready. And their early input had shaped the design. That's the difference between shutting down energy and channeling it.

The real discipline is:

• Fall in love with the problem, not the idea

• Ask: What's the break-even point? What's the real business model?

• Look at the cost of change, not just the appeal of the solution

• Be willing to say: "Yes, but not yet," and define what needs to change to make it a yes

This is what I encouraged my client to do. Not just to decide on the idea, but to use it as a moment to educate. To help their teams learn how to think like entrepreneurs inside the company.

Because innovation isn't just about coming up with ideas. It's about creating the conditions that help people refine, test, and own their ideas with clarity and move them from pilot to adoption.

Finding the Balance

And yes, it's a balance.

If we over-process innovation, we risk filtering out bold opportunities. If we allow too much free play, we waste time and resources.

The sweet spot is in enabling smart, intentional entrepreneurship that doesn't get lost in old rulebooks or over-defined governance. Especially in times of technological change, like now with AI reshaping how we work, we need to be open to challenging past decisions and rethinking what's possible.

That's how we build companies that can move both boldly and wisely.

If you're a leader navigating this balance, wanting to say yes more often but needing to protect your business, I work with executives to build innovation environments where bold ideas can become embedded solutions. Let's talk about what that could look like in your organization.

Find Your Wave,

Sarah 🌊