The Three Things Gerald Palmer Meant When He Said "No"!

A Story in a North American Missions Agency Series

What does the song The Gambler have to do with decision-making at a national missions agency? Read on . . . to find out!

The Three Things Gerald Palmer Meant When He Said "No"!

Part of navigating the complexity of the bureaucracy of the national missions agency of the Southern Baptist Convention was getting a “Yes” out of Gerald Palmer the vice president for Missions. In the Metropolitan Missions Department “Skunk Works” when trying to get a “Yes” out of Palmer, we had a multi-step process.

Here is how we handled it during the early 1980s.

First, we would make an appointment when we knew Lyndon Collins—his associate—was also going to be in that day. Second, we would arrive for our appointment ten to fifteen minutes early, to talk with Dolores Waters—his administrative assistant—and wander into Lyndon’s office.

Third, we would quiz Lyndon on what mood Palmer was in that day. Fourth, we would finally be called into Palmer’s small conference room to meet with him.

Pause: Three of us would show up for the appointment. One would be our division director. Palmer respected the hierarchy. Without our division director we would get no answer from him that day.

A second person would make the presentation. A third person would take notes and observe body language in case our answer that day was “No”, and we needed to back up and try again.

As the meeting began, we would each look around to see if there was any evidence Palmer had his micro digital recorder with him that day. He had it set on playing the Kenny Rogers song –” The Gambler”.

When he turned it on it would be playing – “You gotta know when to hold them. Know when to fold them. Know when to walk away. Know when to run.”

You never wanted him to lay that out and play it. It was a clear sign the meeting was over, and we needed to get up and leave.

Typically, there would be a 50-50 chance we would get a “No” during our first visit. We were prepared for that. The tough part was figuring out which “No” he was giving us.

One “No” was simply “No, I will not approve that.” A second “No” was “You are pressuring me, and if you keep on doing that then your answer will be ‘No’”.

The third was the best “No”. It meant that your proposal did not yet have his agreement, but if you kept working on it and he liked it better, it would become a “Yes”.

The day I am thinking about we fortunately got the third “No”. We went back to our office and debriefed, decided what to change, add, and delete.

Later we went back to him with a revised proposal. While reading it his hands started shaking. He said, “This is scary. This is exactly what I wanted it to say to approve it. How did you guys figure it out?”

He signed it, threw the proposal back across the table at us, and said, “The answer is ‘Yes”. Now get out of here before I change my mind.”What are some of your experiences with an Atlanta Snowmageddon, or one in a place where you lived?