meetings

Waaaaaay back in college I did a thing called Leadershape, which google tells me is a commonly used word to describe a variety of group-skills based programs. The one I did was a week, and I mostly remember all the vegans being upset that the cooks kept putting butter on the vegetables. (Today I am baffled that anyone thought it was real butter.)

I also remember we talked about group dynamics, and I always wound up being the “consensus builder.” I recognized at the time that it wasn’t really true — sure, I was fine “building consensus” for a thought exercise where I didn’t care about the outcome. (Seriously, NO ONE CARES whether you rank the matches 8th or 9th most important.)

But it was pretty clear to me that if it was a situation where I DID care about the outcome, my 5th grade Oregon Trail playing self’s true colors would shine through and I would just bulldoze over everyone to get my way. (Look, I just felt very strongly that I was the best choice for team captain, and let’s all remember that my team DID make it safely to Oregon.) ((Also, love that I classify the fake survival exercise as worthless, but consider the Oregon Trail game to be Super Important.))

And now I do exactly the same thing in work meetings. Don’t have much stake in the outcome? Am happy to sit quietly and engage in some “active listening,” while nodding and looking supportive. Feel strongly about the outcome? I at least try to make my bulldozing more subtle now.

Anyway, apparently I had Some Thoughts about meetings today.

Mirrored from The Marci Rating System.