Office desk with business binders full of papers

Every few weeks McKinsey tries to sell me a packet of materials to improve my meetings. These guys are big and ubiquitous. If they were really offering a great solution, I don’t think most meetings would still be so awful. I don’t think people would still be complaining constantly about meetings – both too many meetings and unproductive meetings. Especially from all those companies that have hired McKinsey in the past!

Unfortunately, I’m not big and ubiquitous. Not yet anyway. But I’ve got a track record for running amazing meetings that accomplish an incredible amount while also creating energy and commitment. I’ve also taught many others the secrets to short and powerful meetings. And, of course, since I know the difference and I know the solution, I probably hate bad meetings more than anyone else.

McKinsey’s materials make the same mistake I see in all the other “solutions” to bad meetings that are floating around the Internet: they concentrate on tools and techniques to control people. As if out-of-control people are the root cause of bad meetings. As if a tool like a written agenda filled with what I call Treadmill Verbs magically produces results and consensus. As if rules plus roles plus timers somehow equal progress. Need more convincing, read 5 Reasons Meetings Never Improve.

No, the root cause of bad meetings is a lack of clarity. Pure and simple. If you don’t know very specifically what you are trying to accomplish during each minute of a meeting, you are wandering and that’s no way to run a meeting. If you don’t have a method for achieving whatever you are trying to accomplish, you are still wandering and that’s no way to run a meeting. Before you even start, you must know exactly what must be different when the meeting ends and how you are going to get there. Clarity is the secret to short and powerful meetings. Clarity of purpose and clarity of process. And, of course, once you have that level of clarity, you certainly wouldn’t be so careless as to have people present who aren’t needed to achieve your goals, would you?

What would it be worth to your organization to have nothing but short and powerful meetings? What are you waiting for? Why are you tolerating bad meetings for even one more day?

Ready to embrace the power of clarity? Here are three options:

• Read my book Uncommon Meetings: 7 Quick Tips for Better Results in Half the Time and “do it yourself.”
• Read The Clarity Papers to leverage the power of clarity more broadly and learn why meetings are both the best evidence of disclarity and the perfect arena for practicing shared clarity.
• Contact me if you are finally sick of wasteful meetings and ready to eliminate them once and for all.