I Talk to think…
A recent article on Fast Company Think to Talk <http://www.fastcompany.com/resources/learning/conner/talk-to-think/060507.html> set me pondering about the implications of this insight in the management meetings that I have been a part of. I have often encountered a couple of people who are more active than the others. The reaction of the others varies depending on their mood and preference. It can range from
It is so good that I don’t have to be bothered to think about that one
to
Who cares
to
I wish he shut-up more
to
What an ‘airtime’ hogger
And yes the quality of discussions is not optimal. The talkative ones get the limelight and the others either relax or get frustrated. Buy-in from all is reduced – and then we revisit some of the same discussions at a later point in time because though it seemed like a consensus – it was actually not. Of course one can say that the role to ensure that everyone contributes belongs to the ‘chair’ …but may be everyone can be a bit more mindful of the consequences…
Oh well, I have been accused more that once of being a ‘powerful contributor’ expressing my own views sometimes at the expense of the amount of time that someone else would require to formulate theirs. But the truth of the matter as a wise Irishman once said ‘ How do I know what I think until’ I know what I say’? (courtesy Handy in his latest work - ‘ Myself and other Important matters’). I have now decided that I will consciously use the very simple trick that Marcia Conner suggests and prelude a simple ‘ I am just thinking out aloud here’…and try and state just one idea at a time…
Cheers
SW
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