You have all experienced it. It’s a bit like the game of telephone we’ve all played, where one person whispers a statement into the ear of another, who then whispers the same into the third one’s ear,, who further whispers this to the fourth person and this goes on and on until it gets to the last person, who speaks aloud whatever he/she heard. Inevitably, this is not the same thing that the original person said; in fact, far from it. You’ve also had the experience of being at a dinner party when someone brings up a topic which reminds somebody else of another topic, leading to someone else riffing off of, etc. The group ends up with a multitude of themes that have little connection, but an enjoyable evening is had by all.
Well, meetings are often like that, especially the poorly conducted ones. Since there is limited clarity or focus from the start, the meeting meanders and the primary aims are ill achieved. Meetings need framing. They need to be focused. They need to have a clear aim, purpose, a set of objectives and strategy for arriving at a concrete conclusion as well as ground rules. And most importantly, they need a facilitator to keep the group on track, for the happening described above is well entrenched in our collective patterns.
Okay, good point Keith, but we knew that!
Yes you did, but here’s the rub. Creativity and innovation are snuffed out by the very same processes that define good business meetings. It is in those wonderful diversions that the stuff of breakthrough is made. Great leaders don’t make their meetings so military like that the life force is snuffed out of them. Instead, they design in and often welcome temporary diversions, identifying them for the creativity and spark that they can potentially ignite by encouraging a personal freedom to express innovative ideas. You can’t tell where a good idea comes from, or when, and sometimes you cannot tell how either. It comes in the shower, while watching a movie, reading a blog or playing with your kid. It can come to you in the most unexpected moments and this needs to be welcomed. See the video below for a wonderful expression of this idea of movement from one place to another until the end was never predicted. Such movement spices up our life and offers an insight we could not have had while collectively pursuing a singular goal or painting within the lines.
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