Meetings

Just because someone offers you something, doesn't mean you need to accept it

I recently received an E-Mail from someone saying a lawyer

“asked if his office should contact you about a meeting”.

I wrote back saying:

“The very last thing I would ever want to do is … “

First of all, why would I ever want to meet with a lawyer (not being paid by me)?

And, I remember a time long-long ago in a distant galaxy far-far away, when I was working for corporation, sending out a broadcast E-Mail about “Meetings”, saying:

I will no longer respond to any meeting requests, unless the meeting request includes:

• an agenda (how could I possibly be prepared for a meeting if there is no agenda?); and

• a clearly stated goal of what is to be accomplished (how the hell do you ever know when the meeting is over if you haven’t first established the goal?).

Often times, in corporations, a group of people will decide upon some issue, and then “have a meeting”, where the meeting participants are given the new Narrative or Marching Orders, and, most importantly, be given the mistaken belief that they were part of that decision.

And, of course, there’s that well known saying,

“At meetings, minutes are kept, and hours are wasted”.

Presumably this meeting request was concerning someone else’s problem, not mine, regarding a problem I had no responsibility in creating. Though I will admit, this is a problem I’ve wasted a lot of time and anguish trying to solve. And at some time, one needs to worry about their own problems, not other’s.

And, on the Other-Other hand, I LOVE solving problems! And sometimes I can’t help but getting sucked in …