How to Refuse a Refusal

"I am incredibly cautious about my use of the most dangerous word in one's productivity vocabulary. It takes a lot to convince me to agree to something that yields shallow work," he says. "If you ask for my involvement in university business that's not absolutely necessary, I might respond with a defense from the department chair who hired me." The key is to avoid providing enough specificity about the request that the requestor has the opportunity to defuse it,.