Things We’ve Learned in 30 Years..
We all do it: when we go to an event or meeting, or have a conversation with a client or supplier, we tend to have an idea of what might be discussed and pre-assess what we’re going to take away from it.
In fact, many meetings are already driven by pre-planned agendas – which is probably right to ensure that we don’t drift far from the matters in hand.
However, taking a very fixed approach can be inhibiting and may cause you to miss some vital clues or information that could potentially be “transformative (yes, a strong word, but definitely applicable at times).
Whilst we’ve worked on many projects, where there are defined matters to be discussed, and so sticking to an agenda is absolutely fine, we have also found that by relaxing the remit, particularly when we’re looking at a troubleshooting challenge or where our clients aren’t sure exactly what they want to achieve, having a far more open discussion frequently leads to some unusual and unexpected directions.
And often more appropriate solutions.
So, for every meeting and discussion, we’ll go in as open-minded as possible rather than just focus on the listed points. Get the items on the agenda covered, but more importantly open it up to find out if there’s something else that can be improved. Maybe that’s obvious to some, but it’s good to remind ourselves to look.
You never know whether the takeaways are going to be only the ones on the menu!
Image courtesy of Meg and The Bombay Palace, Worcester.
Get in touch today to find out more about how we can help you move your business forward and take that pressure off you.
Lime pickle, anyone?
Peter