@ work:

Throughout my life, I have been required to attend meetings that drone on for hours, and hours. I am sure you know the drill: your boss goes on and on about nothing.  The senseless complaints are long, the hot air is choking. The only thing that gets accomplished is a waste of your valuable time. I once sat in a two hour business meeting where our CEO explained a basketball story that went something like this.

The coach said, “Only throw the ball overhead.”

The all star player said, “If I do that I won’t make the shot.”

The coach said, “Do what I say, right or wrong.”

The team lost every game,  but they did learn how to do what they were told.

End of story.

 

What was the point here?

Do what I say, win or lose, right or wrong?

Seriously?

This pretty much sums up my career with this company:  we lost a lot of money, but our CEO got a big fat bonus every year.

Sound familiar?

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Anytime I wind up in a meeting that serves no purpose, I reflect on that basketball story.

It really could be so different, it really is easier than this.

 

There is a simple Mana Gardening-inspired method that goes like this:

Send out an email to stating the problem.

Say, “Short meeting- each person has to present a one sentence simple solution.”

“As your boss, I will start the meeting with my solution. We will take only a few minutes to discuss solutions and choose some to try, the meeting will take less than 20 minutes.”

A CEO should be held responsible to condense the problems into one sentence statements and they should be able to present a one sentence solution to every problem.

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@ love:

We should use this same simple approach.

Ever been greeted with the phrase “We need to talk”?

This statement makes me want to cry. I know we are about to play the spin our lives upside and ruin everything good about right now game.

Your loved one is unhappy and does not have a clue what is really wrong or what they really even want.

Next time you find yourself in this place, try this:

Instead of talking, think of a one sentence statement of the exact problem plus a one sentence solution.

When you find those two sentences, then ask your loved one to try the solution together.

What a wonderful world it could be…

The mind, body and soul is a garden, our actions and thoughts are like seeds, let us water the mana, and pull out the weeds.

Keti