Does hearing this question/statement make your skin crawl when someone at your company (or maybe an external consultant) chimes into a conversation, where you’re presenting a solution and says:

“Couldn’t we just do X?”

Specifically, when their suggestion is not realistic, or adds complexity/scope, or has already been discussed without them, or something they don’t have enough knowledge on to make such as suggestion.

And then over time that individual may start to be “accidentally” removed from future discussions.

“Hey Chris, I heard you met with the stakeholders yesterday, why wasn’t I invited?”

I understand, we often feel our presence in a meeting is needed/wanted/of value so we might need to add in “Couldn’t we just…” to contribute to the conversation.

This question (or suggestion) is probably more favorable to have one on one instead of in an audience setting, as sometimes the thought provided is actually a good one.

Having awareness and removing your “Couldn’t we justs” could help keep peace amongst the group.