Something to readWorking with others
Give it five minutes
A 3-minute essay on giving a colleague's proposal a fair hearing before you argue with it
Why it’s worth your time
A fast no can end an idea before anyone has understood it, including the person saying no. Jason Fried tells the story of pushing back on a speaker he had just met, and the short reply that changed how he reacts to new ideas. If you're the one in the room who spots the flaws first, these are three useful minutes.
Pausing before you push back on an idea
The essay · 3 min · Free
How to get it
Opens their site. We don’t copy it here; we’d rather they get the read.
- Read the essay.
It's short. Read for the moment at the 2007 conference when Richard Saul Wurman answers Fried's pushback, and for the line Fried draws afterwards between asking questions and pushing back.
- Ask one question before you push back.
The next time someone pitches something you want to argue with, ask one question about it first, such as what problem it solves for them or what made them choose this approach. Then decide whether you still disagree, and say so if you do.
Good moments for this: before a planning meetingwhen someone pitches something newafter a meeting where you shut something down
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Making it work for you
Every workplace is different. Here’s what to think about before you start, and what might get in the way.
Things to think about
When the most senior person in a meeting dismisses a suggestion, others often stop offering theirs. A question first tends to keep the room open, and that matters more the more senior you are.
What might make this harder
Ask your one question, then say you'd like a day with it and name when you'll come back. That keeps the pause without stalling the room.
Questions people ask
What is Give it five minutes about?
A short 2012 essay by Jason Fried on Signal v. Noise, Basecamp's blog. He recalls arguing with Richard Saul Wurman's ideas right after meeting him, Wurman's reply, and why he now tries to think before he reacts.
How do I stop shooting down ideas at work?
Ask one question about a proposal before you say anything against it, and give yourself time to think before you decide. If you still disagree after that, say so.
Is it bad to push back in meetings?
No. As Fried retells it, Wurman's advice allows for disagreement and strong opinions; the point is to let an idea settle before you argue against it.
What it says, and how it holds up
In a lot of meetings, the first person to find the flaw gets a kind of credit. Jason Fried's essay is about what that habit costs. A quick objection can feel like rigor while skipping the step where you understand what's being proposed. Writing in 2012, Fried describes his earlier self as a hothead who went looking for a way to disagree with whatever he heard.
The turn comes at a 2007 conference in Providence. Richard Saul Wurman introduced himself and complimented Fried's talk, and Fried answered by challenging points from Wurman's. Wurman told him to give it five minutes, which, as Fried retells it, meant thinking before reacting: disagree if you like, but let an idea settle before deciding to argue with it. Among the lessons Fried draws are that a question signals you want to know, while pushing back signals you think you already do, and that new ideas tend to start out fragile, a point he makes with Jonathan Ive's words about Steve Jobs.
It's a personal story rather than a method, and the thread under the post holds a fair challenge to it. One commenter called the advice "idealistic and impractical": give every idea five minutes and nothing gets done, when the real skill is judging which ideas deserve the time.
The pause is the wrong move when a proposal puts someone at risk. If an idea would endanger someone's safety, expose customer data or break a law, saying so straight away is the considered response, and the questions can come after.
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Picked by Truest and described in our own words. The original belongs to its creator. Last updated October 9, 2026. We sell a career membership; where that’s relevant above, we say so.