Clearly Unclear

When asking for permission to do something, some people assume the answer is YES unless they specifically hear NO, while others assume NO unless they specifically hear a YES. This is what happened to Mike and Steve.

Both Mike and Steve wanted approval to try out a new procedure at work. So they went to their boss to ask for the okay. The boss pushed back hard, citing a number of reasons why he thought the plan was a bad idea. Steve took that to mean NO that they could not proceed. But Mike said, "He didn't say NO; he just said he thought it was a bad idea. And maybe it is, but the only way to tell for sure is to try it and see. I took his push-back to mean YES, go ahead and try it, but keep your eyes open in case things go south."

So who was right?