Meetings are one of the constants of my working life. Yesterday we had a meeting about a meeting (it wasn’t my idea). I think I’ve done a good deal of personal growth in the last year or so, and I think I owe it all to these meetings at work. It used to be that I felt compelled to voice my opinion in these meetings, regardless of whether the ongoing discussion was pertinent to the purpose of the gathering. Acting purely out of self interest, I’ve begun to pick my moments. I find myself holding my tongue when folks start debating a side issue. This strict policy of non-intervention has worked for me thus far. Eventually, the conversation gets back on the right track and I get back on the train, without having spent my reserves on a senseless debate. An example comes to us courtesy of last month’s “process meeting”. Everyone decided to debate the merits of the coverage schedule for seeing walk-in inquiries at our office. No one in the room was responsible for the decision. No one in the room had any input on the decision. No one in the room could change the decision. It was just thirty minutes spent debating the wrong people. If a special interest wants the US Congress to pass a certain bill, they lobby a congressman, not their local sheriff.

I stayed on the sidelines. I’m a better man for it.