Are you a “yes” or a “no” person? This simple question is a big determinant in what you will achieve in your career and life. “Yes” is the key to possibilities, while “no” locks your wrists with the shackles of limitation.

Business is about learning to say “yes!”. Lisa Gersh, CEO of the wellness company Goop, argues her success came from learning to say yes when, “People pitch ideas all the time, I find that others in the room can often want to say no and talk about why it’s not a good idea.”

It seems when you put a bunch of people together, they kill an idea. But her focus — thanks to early advice — is to find out what’s good with the idea. Try to say yes, before you entertain saying no.

The world is full of leaders who say, “let’s study it more”, when in reality that phrase means no. But they’re too cowardly to say “no”, even when they should’ve said “yes” to begin with. It easy to find what’s wrong with an idea, but your attention should fixate on what’s good about it. Yes is the spirit of possibility.

Leaders who achieve look for reasons to say “yes”. They focus on how to make a good idea great and then to make it happen.

Hearing “no” said so frequently before leaders say “yes”, made me wonder, “What would happen if you said yes more?”

A few years ago, Jim Carrey starred in the movie Yes Man where he played the bank loan officer Carl Allen. Since his divorce, Allen’s outlook turned negative. This led him into the downward spiral of withdrawal, which resulted in him ignoring even his close friends.

That is until the idea of saying yes was put in his path as one of his old colleagues took him to the motivational “Yes!” seminar. There guru Terrence Bundley forced him to answer “Yes!” to every opportunity, request, or invitation that presents itself.

He gives it a try and discovers when he says yes, good comes. So much so, that Allen starts to seize every opportunity that comes his way. As he starts to get back what he lost in his downward spiral, he feels more optimistic. Yet, when he slips into his old behaviour and says no, there are consequences to pay.

Seeing the repercussions of saying no, drives him back to saying yes.

You may not go to the extreme of Jim Carey’s character in the movie and say “Yes!” to everything (although I’m intrigued to try this — maybe I need more courage. But at least listen to ideas and start with trying to figure out how to say yes.

Play with them, work on them, build on them. Create something from them. Yes is the better option.

If you’re tempted to argue, “That’s just Hollywood”, you’re right. But the starting point of saying yes in order to open your mind to possibilities is purely business. You need to free yourself from the inherent restraint of discovering why something can’t happen.

The CEO of one of the region’s largest and most profitable companies, argues that people choose no because they don’t want the added responsibility that comes with saying yes. He complains that laziness to take on added responsibility is an inhibitor to productivity across the region.

To keep things as they are, its’ easier to just say no. Because when you say yes, you have to act.

He knows that when you say yes its expected you’ll act. He also, knows that Dubai’s success came from having leaders who shouted yes, when others wanted to discuss why something couldn’t happen. And it’s clear the declaration of the affirmative trumped those who were sceptical.

Yes is one of the simplest words to say, yet it proves difficult for so many people to say. You have to learn to say yes in order to achieve what others wouldn’t dare.

Give “Yes!” a try.

The writer is a CEO Coach and author of “Leadership Dubai Style”. Contact him at tsw@tommyweir.com