by

Leo Crocker Rogers

There are those that think the longer one pursues a thing, the better the thing works out – the longer the flight, the better the destination. While this is true in making something sharp, it is not true in getting something done.

Meetings are an example.

There are leaders of business meetings that talk and talk in an effort to find a solution to a problem. If one hour is not enough then two hours is better. If one day is not enough, then two. If not one year, then twelve. If six people are not enough, then two more are invited. If six nations are not enough, then invite 192.

This mental miasma fosters frustration, time wasting, and confusion upon confusion – and worst of all, the scheduling of yet another meeting.

Long meetings are like taking a long walk off a short pier – all one gets is wet.

When meeting times are set, an agenda is known before the meeting, and the meeting leader is commissioned to bring about a conclusion with an action item, meetings are often successful.

The environmental Kyoto Protocol meeting of 1997 and today’s Climate Change meeting in Copenhagen are examples of "the more time in the chair, the better the decision is expected to be" paradigm. Just the opposite is true as has been evident from the non-action results from the Kyoto meeting.

Successful meetings are time limited. We should think of them as an airplane flight. The plane can be in the air only so long. To have a successful flight, the plane can not fly endlessly around and around. It needs to land at its prescribed destination or at least at some destination.

It is up to the Meeting Leaders to lead, not talk. Talk is cheap (actually VERY expensive). Leadership is valuable.

There is no reason to have a meeting unless a result results. Non-meetings with non-results are just as effective as meetings with non-results and much less expensive.

While meetings are sometimes helpful to build consensus, ultimately, someone has to take the lead.

How many pilots does it take to fly an airplane no matter how many people have agreed to be in the plane?

One.