Recently, a managing partner asked me if I facilitate meetings. I told him I did, with one exception: I won’t facilitate partner meetings anymore. When he asked why, I said “Because it’s painful and useless to watch partners sit around and lie to each other.” His response: “You’re right. We absolutely DO lie to each other. But can you imagine what would happen if we all told the truth?”
Well, yes I can. The conference room would be an ugly sight at first. But let’s think what might happen if everyone agreed to tell the truth. Imagine if partners really trusted and liked each other. Imagine if they even knew each other on some level other than the professional. Imagine if they had the communication skills and the courage to disagree openly and with civility. Imagine if they trusted each other enough to allow one of them to lead the others with a clear-cut strategy. It’s entirely possible that putting all the skunks on the table might just be the beginning of a new way of doing things.
It’s worth imagining these scenarios. It’s worth working for. And if there’s a company out there that wants to try to make imagination real, I’d change my mind about facilitating partner meetings.
No comments:
Post a Comment