Rabbit Holing
And the value of discipline in meetings
My colleague Pavel and I sometimes go on tangents in our team meetings—what we refer to as “rabbit holes.” We’ve been friends for a long time and tend to be “thinkers”. Thus I suppose it’s no surprise. Yet that’s no excuse. While we usually catch these diversions fairly quickly, it’s a failure in good meeting protocol. In fact, we explicitly teach our clients not to do it!
Pavel and I both have the Working Genius of “Wonder,” from Lencioni’s “Six Types of Working Genius.” “Wonder” involves “pondering the possibilities of greater potential and opportunity in a given situation”. It’s the “30,000 feet in the air” level of reflection. It certainly has its place. But not in every kind of meeting!
For additional context, consider the three stages of work outlined in the Working Genius model.
Ideation—when we Wonder and Invent possible solutions. This tends to happen best in brainstorming and full-day off-site meetings, where there is time to think widely and deeply.
Activation—When the Working Geniuses of Discernment and Galvanizing take new innovation and move it towards reality—by sifting, refining and deciding; then rallying people around the decisions, to get things moving.
Implementation—When the work is entrusted (ideally) to people with the Working Geniuses of Enablement and Tenacity—so that the work actually starts, and finishes, well.
Back to Pavel and me. During our weekly tactical meeting—which is a blend of Activation- and Implementation-level work—we should be focused on holding each other accountable to executing on our plans and solving tactical issues. Not jumping up to 30,000’.
Now what about other Geniuses. Can they derail meetings? Certainly. In fact, we all can pull conversations and meetings towards the altitudes we like. For example, in brainstorming or full-day off-site meetings, those who are more at home with Implementation-level work—say those with the Genius of Tenacity—might limit the innovation by their desire to know “what do we need to do next week?” Or those who love generating new ideas—those with the Genius of Invention—might offer big new ideas in a meeting dedicated to executing today’s gameplan.
What’s the point? Recognize that our Geniuses are not always helpful in every conversation and meeting. And work to moderate them, and save their full deployment for meetings where they can better serve the team.
What will result? Better meetings, better teamwork, and better work!