Elite Brevity

meeting the peak and stemming the descent

Was recently a part of a meeting in which a great point was made.

Immediately following the point, the room went silent. Not out of consideration, the point had already been accepted; instead, out of contemplation, conviction even. As confirmation, after the silence, the speaker concluded with, “Make sense.”

“T,” responded one of the participants.

“What?” another asked.

“Truth,” she clarified, “… I’ve just never heard it put that way.”

“Me either. But he’s right.”

The meeting should’ve ended right there. But instead, a perpetual loudmouth, while nodding in agreement, proceeded to ruin the moment by pivoting to something much less important, inevitably devolving the entire meeting. Many such cases.

Everyone says they hate meetings, which is understandable. If interested in changing things up, practice meeting for 20-30 minutes and ending if no good point is made; and if one is made, even within the first 5 minutes, end it there.

(You’ll know a good point when you feel one.)

House-keeping can be kept in emails or some other form of text. Apply, refine, and—where possible, incorporate further.