Working Up

by Dwayne Phillips

Contrary to management theory, meetings are not about (1) information or (2) decision. They are about nice people in a nice setting.

I had always been taught that there are two types of meetings:

1. ones in which the group decided something
2. ones in which information was provided to the group

Hearing those items over and over again confused me for years. The vast majority of meetings I attended fell into neither of those two categories. I needed years of confusing experiences to notice that most meetings—probably 90%—served another purpose:

the meeting allowed nice people to spend some nice time together in a nice setting

The person presiding over the meeting needed a break from the slings and arrows of outrage that filled the day. The person wanted to have a nice time—a nice chat with nice people.

Why not take the meeting across the street to McDonald’s?

You just didn’t do something like that. Meeting at McDonald’s, or some other favorite place of nice-ness, would be too obvious. The facade of the meeting being one of the only two official reasons to have a meeting would be shattered, and we all know that shattering time-honored facades is against all rules of decent behavior.

Too bad.