Choose a managing-up response that clarifies priority tradeoffs without sounding resistant.
Late afternoon in the product area. Nina has one deadline in progress and a new ask from her boss. Your boss says, Can you add the launch-risk slide before close too? The board deck is already due at 6:00. What should Nina say now? Name both deadlines, state the tradeoff, and ask which outcome should win today. Right: this uses Gabarro and Kotter's mutual-dependence logic. Nina protects the boss's goal by exposing the real tradeoff and turns urgency into an expectation decision. Say yes to both requests and quietly decide later which one gets less polish. Weaker: it looks cooperative…
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