WYT- Worth Your Time July edition
Has a month already gone by? We (Katrina and Susan) are trying to cope with the heatwave that has been breaking over Northern Europe — not that we want to complain about a good summer. It’s definitely time to make use of those nearby city beaches in Copenhagen.
Meanwhile, we are continuously rummaging through the sphere of information overwhelm online to dig out interesting, inspiring or intriguing pieces that shape our thinking and approach when it comes to future work, future organisations and future ways of leading. So what did we find worth your time this month to share?
- CIA Handbook to sabotage meetings
How do you best destroy productivity and run the most inefficient and ineffective meetings ever? A question that the precursor of the CIA, the OSS — U.S. Office of Strategic Services — apparently put a lot of thought into. In the 1940s, they figured out innovative ways to deal with opposing organisations and defeat World War II enemies through meeting sabotage. Sadly, when you see the excerpt of this handbook (!) you think they somehow managed to infiltrate most large organizations these days.
2. Turning get-togethers into transformative gatherings
“The way we gather matters, because how we gather is how we live”
While the CIA handbook is amusing at first, it’s also wildly disturbing in how much it resonates with people. We have all been part of meetings where the sabotage techniques were successfully deployed — and the meeting sank into a wormhole of nonsense and politics.
In response to this, we looked at ways to turn meetings around — what if we took it upon ourselves to make our everyday gatherings (including work meetings) more meaningful? One useful input of inspiration we found is by Priya Parker, a conflict mediator and author. Check out her Ted Talk on the topic:
3. Power causes brain damage
While the first two pieces are about very concrete ways on how our work manifests (meetings), the second two content pieces this month are about a construct that deeply affects not just meetings but any kind of interaction we have as people in institutions, organisations or society. It’s all about power.
“If power were a prescription drug, it would come with a long list of known side effects.”
First up is a bit of neuro-psychological depth on what actually happens to our brain on power and why it might be a smart thing to keep each other in check.
4. Vulnerability & Power
Lastly, we want to share an inspiring conversation that was recorded between Russel Brand and Brené Brown in the “Under My Skin” podcast. We know that we already talked about Brené Brown in last month’s edition, but this is something not to miss and it fits perfectly into the theme of power and how to differentiate between “power over, power with and power between”. They touch upon a lot of other topics around power, spirituality and the likes, and the video serves as a great reminder of how much joy a heartfelt, open and honest conversation between two individuals can bring to others. No fancy video screen set up, just two smart people with curious questions and a microphone.
We’re curious too — so what is it that you came across this month that you felt worthwhile stopping in your tracks and reading on, watching more or listening to the end? Share your best finds with us in the comments.
Thanks for reading! See you next month!
P.S.: If you want to know a little bit more about who we are and why we are so passionate about the topic, you can find a little podcast interview and transcript here.
