EXACTLY WHAT YOU GET
Example script: “New urgent request lands — protect your reputation without sounding difficult”
This is the real format: a primary script you can send, the most likely response you’ll get back,
and two follow-ups that keep you in control (without arguing, apologising, or over-explaining).
Use it as a message, an email, or words for a call — swap the brackets.
Primary script (send this)
Got it — I can take this.
Quick reality-check so we don’t accidentally create a “quiet failure” later: if this jumps to the top, something else has to move. Otherwise one of two things will happen:
• the timeline slips silently (and it looks like I dropped it), or
• quality dips (and it still looks like I dropped it)
Here are the clean options:
1) I pause [Project/Task A] and deliver this by [Day/Date]
2) I keep [Project/Task A] moving and deliver this by [Day/Date]
Which outcome do you want protected most?
Typical response (what they’ll say)
“Can’t you just squeeze it in?” / “This is urgent — we need it sooner.” / “We need everything to stay on track.”
Additional response 1 (keep it calm, make it real)
I can move it up — I just need the trade-off to be explicit.
When everything becomes “urgent”, the cost doesn’t show up immediately. It shows up later as rework, missed dates, and reputations getting damaged for things nobody named out loud.
I’m trying to protect delivery here, not avoid work.
Which item are you comfortable deprioritising?
Additional response 2 (if they won’t choose)
No problem — if you don’t want to move anything yet, I’ll do this safely in two steps:
• By [Day/Date]: a decision-ready version that covers the core (so you can move)
• By [Day/Date]: the full version with the extras
That way you get value fast, and we don’t gamble with a “promise” that’s actually impossible.
How to use it in real life
Send the primary script within 5–10 minutes of the new ask. Fast + calm reads as “in control”, not “resistant”. Replace [Project/Task A] with the thing they already care about.
Why it works (the power move)
It forces a decision without being combative. You’re not “saying no” — you’re making the cost visible and asking them to choose. That shifts responsibility back where it belongs.
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