Recession could be a blessing

We may be heading for a deep recession, even a depression of economic activity. Most commentators see this as an unmitigated disaster. It could be a disaster, if we keep thinking the same things and trying to do the same things, but it could be a great opportunity too.

Life BR (before recession) has some problems. Many people are working too hard, not enjoying it a lot, anxious to have the latest things to bolster their self-esteem and have very little time to be, think, hang out, relax, go for a walk and even (shock horror) waste time now and then. Life really is not much fun! Even children have their lives filled with organised activities, after school classes etc. The amount of time they have to play is going down every year. Because of the drive to get and spend, often on artificially created "wants", "economic" growth has continued. It's not made us happier. It has caused environmental damage, loss of species, degradation of water, pollution, global warming and the obliteration of rich indigenous cultures. "Economy" means taking care - we don't have an economy, we have a profligacy.

It is making more and more people wonder if there is a better way. I don't know if there is a better way, but I do know that in order to find one, we have to take time to think and talk and listen to each other. A recession could provide us the opportunity to do just that. It is a least possible this time that rather than having some people completely unemployed and some fully or overfully employed, we might have almost everybody working less and being paid a bit less. The space that this creates might make it possible for people to connect, co-operate, share resources. We could get to know each other better, build communities, have inexpensive fun. Parents who had been trying to juggle very full time work might have a bit more time playing with their children. Happier children leads directly to less crime.

Even our health could improve. Many illnesses are either caused by stress or made worse by stress. Having a bit more time might reduce this. People might choose to eat more vegetables and less meat because vegetables are cheaper. They are also healthier.

When people share stories about times when they have been happy they talk about simple experiences, like a sunset, or a funny thing their two year old said, or a walk in the woods on a gift of a day. None of these are material things. Perhaps if we have the challenge of having less, we may seek these simple pleasures and discover they are more longlasting than acquiring the latest fashionable toy.

These times do give us the opportunity to think about what is truly important to us and to help shape the world to be the way we want it. It's really up to us.

How to have happier, more productive meetings?

I responded to this question on LinkedIn: I am looking for a way to make weekly staff meetings (10 participants) really cool and still cover standard stuff. Any ideas?

I was chuffed that my answer below was chosen as the "Best Answer" by the questioner. You may find the ideas worth trying in your meetings. If you do, I would love to know how you get on.

My Answer

Here is one way to do it. You can use some of the ideas to jazz up any meeting.

You could try creating the agenda together once every few meetings. Often meetings are dull because the items are defined by the boss alone - so no one feels very enthusiastic about them, except the boss! Of course, the boss is still the boss so you can make sure the items that are important to you are in the agenda.

Start the meeting by going round the group and asking everyone to say something positive, while everyone else just listens. You can ask them to say something that is going well, or something directly related to the topic. For example, if you are discussing customer service, it might help to ask them to say why this is important to them. This activity helps people to connect to each other and be positive.

Create an agenda from the group's key interests and concerns. You can ask everyone what the most important issues are that he or she would like the group to work on today. List the issues on a flip chart without editing or comment. Then ask each person to tick off the (say) three issues from the list that she or he would like to work on. The issues with the most ticks are the agenda for the meeting.

Ask the participants to share their best thinking on a topic or issue for (say) two minutes, while everyone else just listens attentively. This makes the noisy people focus their energy and gives the quiet ones time to think. They also don't have to fight for attention. Have a turn yourself but go last if you are the most senior person at the meeting. When everyone has been heard, the rest of the meeting often goes very well.

Use sub-groups. If you form small groups from the people with most interest in a topic, you will get more and better work done than if you stay together. Groups of three to five are the most effective for producing and testing ideas.

If you need to get everyone thinking about something quickly, ask people to take a few minutes each way talk and listen to each other in pairs. This is particularly effective when you are a bit stuck on something controversial. The thoughts from their paired discussions are usually constructive. Pair work is useful you want a thoughtful response to an announcement of a change. You can ask each pair to come up with a question or a comment. You will get more and more thoughtful responses.

At the end of the meeting, or half way through if it is a long one, go round the group and ask people for their thoughts about the meeting. You can ask people what they learned, what was good about it and how the next one could be better. This will not only improve the meetings, it will also share the responsibility for them working well.

There is more on this, and related topics in my ebook "Developing People", if you would like a free copy, please contact me.

Nancy Kline's book "Time to Think" is a great resource.