Your team isn't blocking you. They don't believe you.
I’m in the middle of an improv scene and I make an offer: “The treasure map shows the cave is north of the river.”
My scene partner immediately responds: “There’s no river here.”
Our instructor stops the scene.
“You just Yes-But’d him. Every time he makes an offer, you’re blocking it. The scene dies when you do that.”
My partner didn’t even realize she was doing it.
But the second the director said it, I saw it everywhere.
Here’s the lesson: “Yes, But...” kills belief.
When you Yes-But someone, you’re signaling you don’t believe in their offer enough to build on it.
You’re complying (acknowledging the idea) without committing (moving it forward).
In improv, that kills the scene.
In business, that kills execution.
Take team dynamics for example.
I see this pattern constantly with CEOs and their leadership teams:
The CEO says: “We’re launching this product in Q2.”
The team says:
“Yes, but what about the budget?”
“Yes, but legal will never approve it.”
“Yes, but we tried something like this before and it didn’t work.”
They’re not blocking maliciously.
They’re blocking because they don’t believe enough to commit.
And when your team Yes-Buts instead of Yes-Ands, you don’t have an execution problem.
You have a belief problem at the team layer.
This is one of the three belief gaps that kill execution:
Layer 1 - Internal: The leader doesn’t fully believe the strategy will work. So they hedge, delay, overplan.
Layer 2 - Team: The team doesn’t believe enough to commit. So they comply, but every initiative feels like pushing a boulder uphill.
Layer 3 - Market: The market doesn’t believe you can solve their problem. So they buy from the “safe choice” even if your product is better.
When belief is weak at any layer, execution stalls.
Most leaders throw resources at execution (better processes, more communication, new hires).
None of it works.
Because you can’t out-execute a belief gap.
Ruckus Makers Build Belief.
We close the gap at every layer: internal, team, market.
When belief is strong, execution becomes natural.
Here’s your diagnostic:
Think about your last strategy meeting.
Did your team Yes-And your plan or Yes-But it?
If it was Yes-But, you’ve identified the gap: Team layer belief is weak.
If you’re tired of pushing your team uphill and ready to shift from compliance to commitment, reach out.
🧪 I’m running an experiment.
Each Tuesday night I have improv class. Each Wednesday I plan to break down the lesson learned and how it connects to the idea that Ruckus Makers Build Belief.
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