It was a pivotal moment for Arlington, Texas, and its downtown.
City leaders were exploring ways to revitalize the city's core business area and the downtown Tax Increment Financing board, of which I was a member, had an idea. We would solicit one of the most popular restaurants in the Dallas-Fort Worth area to build a restaurant next to an old theater being used for live performances.
The city would need to offer incentives to the restaurant to make this happen, and it would likely take 10 years to earn that money back. But if we showed this restaurant could thrive in the downtown, others would follow.
We had a problem, though. Three existing downtown restaurants worried about losing business to the new competitor, and opposed the project. Considering the factors — the incentives, the opposition, the lack of guarantees — saying "no" to the plan would have been the easy thing to do.
But we also knew that nixing the idea meant we likely would not get another opportunity like this to accomplish what we wanted in Arlington's downtown. The plan was greenlighted and today, about 18 years later, more than 25 restaurants are in the downtown area.
All because we decided to respond with a "yes" rather than an automatic "no."
The Consequences of Saying No
Businesses, governments, and nonprofits often face pivotal moments, just like Arlington did. But at too many organizations, saying no becomes the default response, one that's ingrained in the culture. In politics, some people even seem to make a career of voting down projects or blocking progress.
But instead of succumbing to a no culture, things can change drastically, for the better, if you cultivate a yes culture, one where the default is not "we've never done it that way before" and instead creativity and innovation are allowed to bloom.
Why do so many find saying yes difficult? Part of the reason is that saying yes requires courage, vision, and a willingness to embrace the unknown. For a yes culture to exist and flourish, people within an organization need to feel empowered to explore new ideas and take calculated risks. Promoting a yes culture requires building trust, developing a detailed plan of action, and presenting clear data.
It's also true that, when making decisions, people tend to focus on the repercussions of saying yes, concentrating on what they perceive as potential negative outcomes. Essentially, they analyze all the reasons for why they should avoid saying yes, but they stop short of analyzing the consequences of saying "no."
Maybe they think there are no consequences because, when you say no, the status quo continues. It feels like you didn't take a chance. But there are indeed consequences. The cost of saying no means that you may have missed the opportunity to make positive change.
The change that could have happened with a yes.
Saying yes doesn't mean being reckless, though. You don't just roll the dice, agree to whatever proposition comes along, and see what happens. You can take smart, calculated risks, and there are ways to minimize that risk. Do your homework on the issue — and the people with whom you will be working. You might even be able to test something without spending a lot of money before you fully commit.
Creating a Vision, Building Trust, and Seeking Common Ground
What are some of the steps leaders can take to create a yes culture that will foster innovation, problem-solving, and progress?
- Encourage a culture of exploration and innovation rather than being closed off to new ideas.
- Create a vision of what you're trying to accomplish. That is not a quick-and-easy thing to do. Crafting a vision that people can believe in takes research, hard work, and perseverance.
- Build trust and proactively address concerns to turn skepticism into support and make ambitious projects successful.
- Set aside ego and include other people in the decision-making process. Depending on the situation, that could mean consultants, employees, clients, or — if you are an elected official — citizens.
- Seek common ground. When attempting to foster a culture of yes, starting with smaller, more achievable wins can build momentum. By proving the value of those early successes, you create trust and show that progress is possible.
Arlington faced another pivotal moment many years ago where saying yes made all the difference.
A developer proposed a residential development on a 2,000-acre property in North Arlington that had been scarred by previous projects that reduced it to a wasteland. The developer's plan called for 800 acres of housing and 1,200 acres of parks and natural habitat. But city officials were skeptical because they didn't know the developer and they had seen previous efforts to do something with the land fail. They were inclined to say no.
As an engineer, I was intrigued by the proposal, though, because I knew that housing was needed and that a project of that size could contribute greatly to the community, drawing businesses and revitalizing other neighborhoods. I did my homework, researched the developer, making sure they had the resources to pull off what was proposed, and then lent my support, encouraging the city council to turn that no into a yes.
The cost of saying no would have been that this scarred piece of property would have remained scarred, and another project might never have materialized.
Saying yes, though, led to a successful development that indeed helped revitalize the area.
That's the power of a yes culture.
About W. Jeff Williams
W. Jeff Williams, author of The Unity Blueprint: Aligning People & Purpose for Lifelong Success, is an award-winning civil engineer, business owner, and president and CEO of Graham Associates. He also served as mayor of Arlington, Texas, for three terms (2015–2021), where he championed unity initiatives that transformed the city. He led his unified team of citizens to secure the Texas Rangers and build the next-generation major league ballpark that contributed to the World Series Championship in 2023.
