Making the Unmeasurable Measurable: The Sign of a Thriving Culture with ‘Yes, And…’

N. Sahin, Ph.D.
3 min readApr 12, 2023
Photo by Jon Tyson on Unsplash

Let’s be real — finding a good metric in culture studies can feel like searching for a needle in a haystack. But don’t worry, because we’ve found the KPI that will have you feeling like a kid in a candy store: “yes, and…”. By using this simple phrase in your corporate environment, you’ll create a workplace that’s bursting with better communication, collaboration, and innovation.

The “Yes, And…” Magic

When you use “yes, and…” in your conversations, it creates a connection between parties with an implication of resemblance in thinking. Our brains like to think alike, and “yes, and…” plays right into that. Plus, it adds new information to the discussions and yields fruitful meetings. Who doesn’t love leaving a meeting feeling like they’ve accomplished something?

But it doesn’t stop there. “Yes, and…” creates a sense of belonging to the company, as both sides of the conversation feel like they’re contributing to the work. Resentment and negative feelings decline when “yes, and…” is used, creating a more positive work environment. And most importantly, it creates a culture of encouragement where everyone feels comfortable speaking up because they’re not afraid of being blocked in discussions.

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N. Sahin, Ph.D.
N. Sahin, Ph.D.

Written by N. Sahin, Ph.D.

Data Scientist, Storyteller, System Biologist, People Analytics expert, And a huge fan of systems thinking, organizational design,