October 3, 2008

“People with no understanding of the problem were trying to explain the situation to people who had no capacity to understand.  It was effective communication at its zenith.”

One of the more startling things (but only when you think about it) regarding meetings is that so many of them are called by people who aren’t interested in learning about the topic at hand.  Be they distracted, concerned with more pressing matters, or just plain lazy, some folks just don’t give certain things any attention.  This, of course, begs the age old question:  “If it isn’t worth meeting about, then why meet?  Yet meet we do.  

A classic case of disinterest is the meeting that serves as a briefing to individuals who are there simply to learn what it is they need to relay up the line.  These meetings often require lots of time preparing and reviewing charts and Power Points.  When the meeting begins, no one wants to spend the time understanding the required charts.  They simply want the punch line.  They leave the session with little more than a few sound bites for the next review.

Often, the next review of the same material gets turned upside down quickly.  Typically, the individuals who know the detail are not invited to such meetings.  The managers who present the information, having paid little attention in their briefing, are armed with nothing but one-liners.  One drill down question results in instant derailment.  A room full of blank stares followed immediately by stares at the floor ensues. 

Such was the occasion when a friend called on the phone.  I asked him about how things had gone in a briefing and he described the scene clearly and honestly:  “People with no understanding of the problem were trying to explain the situation to people who had no capacity to understand.  It was effective communication at its zenith.”

I didn’t need to ask another question.  We have all witnessed it too many times.    

The devil, as we know, is often in the details.  Yet even more often, the right people don’t take the time to root him out.