Mumbo jumbo.
Posted: June 25, 2006 Filed under: Uncategorized 9 Comments »Now those of you where were in my all day meeting yesterday must not take this post personally. It isn’t about you or our meeting. And even if it was, I tend to exaggerate.
I’ve been reading a lot about meetings. Evidently men like meetings better than women. That’s what the research says. (I can’t find the link right now, but I definitely saw it!) Well, they’ve got me fooled. I have a lot of meetings with women these days. And I hate meetings.
Now I don’t use the word hate lightly. When my kids say the word, I always say, “Hate is a very strong word. Can you choose another word?”
This has done two things. 1) made the boys say hate less and 2) Caused them to build their vocabularies with words such as abhor, abominate, loathe, detest, and more.
But I digress. I was talking about meetings. I don’t much care for meetings. Mostly, because not much is accomplished AT the meeting and lots of things aren’t accomplished OUTSIDE of the meetings. But even more than meetings, I abhor hearing people talk in industry-speak and political-correct-speak and I-really-don’t-know-my-butt-from-a-hole-in-the-wall-speak and it goes on and on and has no darn meaning. It sounds good. It sounds smart. But it’s nothing.
I am very fortunate to work with and for some really smart people. These are not people who have to fake their abilities. Most are confident and competent. But haven’t we all seen people who go on and on trying to look brilliant and it’s clear by the vacant looks around the room that no one, but no one has any idea what it’s about?
That is the LOOKATMEIKNOWMORETHANYOU mumbo jumbo. It sounds pretentious and it’s just plain annoying. And it wastes all our time.
In my experience, gaining the respect of a group has nothing to do with using big words. (In fact, big words and esoteric concepts lessen the odds of successfully getting the point across.) I respect a speaker who demonstrates deep understanding, clarity, the ability to back up a point of view and make a connection with the audience. The best presenters I’ve ever seen speak simply. And right to you. That is the kind of speaker I aspire to be. I think/hope I’m on the road…
Speaking of on the road, we’re heading out of town for a week of fun in the sun. Frolicking on the sand dunes of Kill Devil Hills. Basking in the warmth of the beach. Walking to our favorite ice cream shop. Getting henna tattoos. Dinner at Elizabeth’s. And lots of laughter. I might post from the beach. Not sure. So I’ll see you soon or in a week. I hope yours is good. Mine promises to be.
Wendy: couldn’t agree more with your assessment of what makes a good speaker.
Your vacation sounds lovely…enjoy!
I totally agree with your observation of meetings – very little is accomplished in, before, or after the meeting. Usually staying awake is the most challenging part of it.
Enjoy your vacation and I’ll look for your posts later.
Thanks! Vacation is starting off with a serious bang! More soon -
I once attended a meeting where at the bottom of the agenda it was written “Bathroom breaks available upon request.” I knew then it was going to be a looooooong day.
You need to explain simple concepts with big words. How else do you bill for it?! That’s what a consultant would say!!!
I freelance for a company that excels in meetings. I’ve never encountered more meetings in my life, even when I worked full time. Now, to their credit, these weekly phone conferences are kept to a minimum in terms of time, but there’s nothing like interrupting one’s work for an “update.” Fortunately, they forgo the businessbabble for straight shooting.
my company runs the worst meetings in the world. i think generally we measure meeting success is the fewer people understand what the hell is going on, the more important the meeting. in a company of 300, almost half attended the “Senior Management Meeting” and three people will say something and the other enjoy the snack.
i’m a big believer in do your meetings standing up, no food, as few people as possible.
the snack, however, are always classy. very nice coffee, too.
The company I work for is small, and we have very few meetings. Still, when I’m forced to sit thru some blather, I end up having conversations in my head: “shut up, shut up! I get it. I don’t need to know more. I could have finished this project by now if you’d just shut up.”
I’m late commenting but I do what to say a couple of things:
1) there is a great book by Patrick Lencioni called Death by Meeting. You should read it.
2) I actually just sent a proposal to a client to do a class on how to have good meetings. Which is really a meeting about meetings. Interesting, no?
3) Here is a trick I use for meetings… every meeting I am in no matter if I called it or not, I ask “What’s the purpose of this meeting?” or said another way “What do we hope to accomplish today?” or “What’s our intended outcome?” (you have to have different ways to say it or they catch on pretty quickly) and I always ask “How will we know when we are done today?” I add the second because I’ve sat through too many meetings where we finish but we don’t quit. We accomplish what we set out to do, but we keep meeting … that just ain’t cool in my book. So by asking the second question up front, I can later say “Sounds like we have hit our end mark!” and then I scram.
Works like a charm.
Okay that’s all. J’