Any thoughts?
The Three Words Every Professional Fears After Opening a Document
A Monday morning meeting. I joined a call right on time.
Someone shared a document. I opened it.
Executive summary.
A couple of charts.
Some bold headings.
Then came the question:
“Any thoughts?”
It’s been… what? Thirty seconds?
Barely enough time to find the scroll bar, let alone develop a thoughtful opinion.
The room went quiet. Everyone waiting.
Get Saaki’s stories in your inbox
Join Medium for free to get updates from this writer.
Thoughts? Sure.
I have several.
None of them are about the document yet.
So I went with the classic:
“Yeah, I think this looks solid. Happy to dig into it a bit more after the call.”
Which practically means, “Please let someone else go first.”
I have to admit though, there were a few truly gifted people in my office.
The ones who can say: “I think the Q3 numbers are interesting, especially given the trend we saw last quarter.”
Specific enough to sound insightful. Vague enough that nobody can challenge it.
It’s a superpower. Really.
As for me?
If you want real feedback…
Please send me the document before the meeting, not during it.
