I've been keeping a list of activities that strengthen me and activities that weaken me. At the top of the list of things that weaken me is the word "meetings".
I did a quick thesaurus check for 'meeting' and found:
conference, assembly, summit, seminar, consultation, get-together, gathering, convention, and board (bored) meeting
Damn... none of those sound very sexy, do they?
Here's a little 'rule of thumb' I invented for testing meeting agendas.
Ask how many of the items on the meeting agenda are actionable, and how many are informational.
In order to keep me engaged in a meeting, the ratio should be 80% actionable and 20% informational. Otherwise, just send me an email with the information... okay?
Of course, that's not the case. I've audited a fair number of meetings, and the informational items always (yes, always) make up more than 60%.
Sorry, but that's some sleep inducing shit...
So, here are two suggestions:
- Go for the 80/20 mix. 80% of the items on your agenda must be actionable.
- Don't use the word 'meeting'. Personally, I'm starting to use the phrase 'jam session'.
Other ideas are 'festival', 'carnival', or 'workout'. If you're in a more adventurous culture than mine you might try 'orgy'. Yeah, I'd attend an 'idea orgy'...
'yawn' image by Jean-Pierre Knapen
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