You’ve been to this meeting before.
The team gathers to review a new program, idea, product, or whatever.
Someone “leading” the meeting kicks things off with something akin to…”Here’s an idea, what do you think?”
Then the talking commences. Talk. Talk. Blah. Blah. Talk. Sigh…
Everyone looks at the idea through their personal lens to see what might bite them in their ass.
The meeting turns into a negotiation between the people who generated the idea, the ones who will activate it, and the folks responsible for getting it done.
Eighty percent of the talking usually comes out of twenty percent of the mouths. Speaking skill outweighs discernment skill.
Let’s imagine a different meeting. We’ll call it a DISCERNMENT MEETING.
Some people have the working genius of discernment. They have a natural instinct for and a genuine love of evaluating, considering, and judging. They have good taste.
This new meeting is led by a discerner who prepares and facilitates a structured, systematic evaluation of the specific details of the idea in light of mutually agreed-upon objectives and criteria.
In this meeting, it’s expected that everyone comes clean with their fears, biases, and preferences, as these are important to evaluate the quality and feasibility of the idea.
When the meeting ends everyone understands what's good and bad about this idea, what’s required to make it work, and whether it should move forward or go back to the drawing board.
Who on your team has discernment as a working genius? Who has it as a working frustration?
Ask Jeff how a facilitated Working Genius® Workshop can help your team hate meetings less.