January 2025
Author: Daniel Gutwein
It was unexpected. It was late December 2021 and we were filming a promo video to launch the N50 to show what we wanted to accomplish and to encourage companies to get involved.
After the video shoot, a dear friend, Pam Delargy, from Arizona State University, one of our founding partners, approached me and said, “Dan, I have a problem, and I’m thinking maybe you can help me solve it.” I said, “Sure, Pam, what’s the problem?” She went on to tell me that there were 61 young ladies who were studying in Kabul, and when the Taliban took over after the departure of the US in August, all 61 were forced to flee the country. They were loaded on a bus in the middle of the night with only the clothes on their back and their passports and left everything, including their family, behind.
Pam went on to tell me how, through a generous donation, ASU was able to scholarship them at ASU to finish their degrees. I was like, “Wow, Pam, that’s incredible, thank you ASU!” But she said, “There’s a problem, and I can’t solve it. They’re stuck at an airbase in Wisconsin, and I cannot get them to Tempe. I have dorms ready for them. We’re ready to register them for classes, but I can’t get them to Arizona. They’re on a government fly program, and with the restrictions, it could take years to get them all here.”
I had no idea how a non-profit focused on computer labs in rural areas could help with this problem, but I told her the company I work for has a handful of private jets. They sit around on the weekends. I have no idea if I can get them mobilized to pick up the girls, I’ll do my best. I was determined to figure this out, so here’s what I learned…
In every organization, large or small, there are a bunch of people that can say No to you and they’ll gladly do so. It’s easy. Just say No, and people go away. But I was determined to find the person that could say Yes. There’s power in that small word, Yes. As I navigated my way through this massive company, I would share Pam’s story and the story of these young ladies, and I met my share of Nos. It was a “Dan, we’d love to help, but there is no way anyone would authorize this.” In all situations, I would say thank you, but IF we could authorize it, IF we could use the jets, are YOU the person that could authorize it? Are YOU the person who could say YES? And time after time, I would hear, “Oh No, that would have to go to so and so.” Or through another department. And I would thank them for their time and go to the next person.
Well, finally with the help of some friends, we found a guy named Todd, shared the story, and asked if we could mobilize our jets to get these ladies to Arizona. Todd said, “Unfortunately, no.” And so we asked Todd, if we could do this, are you the guy that could say Yes and authorize it? He responded, “Absolutely. I could say Yes, but there is no way our insurance would allow this”. “But, I will say yes to something else. Go ahead and charter a jet, fly up there, and get these ladies, and I’ll pay for it.”
A few days before Christmas 2021, 61 young Afghan ladies arrived in Phoenix, Arizona, and in January started completing their degrees. Immediately after they arrived, the N50 worked with our partners to get them all new laptops and phones so they could communicate, attend, and do the work for their classes.
All of them have now graduated. Many are on to Grad School. 8 of them just passed their level 3 networking certification from Arista. All because someone said Yes.
There will be many, many people in your life and many people in your company who will tell you No. And it probably won’t be a No to borrowing a few jets, but if someone can’t say Yes to your request, thank them politely and move on. Find the person who can say YES. The rest is just noise.