Book Sips #62 — ‘The Art of Gathering’ by Priya Parker
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New Year’s just passed and like many times before the main questions coming up to the end of the year were: where, who, what and when do we gather to celebrate the change of years? Was it fun? Did we have a meaningful end-of-year party or does it not matter? In ‘The Art of Gathering’, Priya Parker speaks about how we gather well and what we best leave behind when organising parties but also meetings or bigger work events. A big takeaway, don’t open a funeral with logistics!
A sip:
Why Closings Matter. I once had an improve teacher, Dave Souer, who told us that you can tell the difference between good actors and great ones, not by how they enter a stage which every actor thinks about and plans for, but how they exit. Good actors enter dramatically and in character, say their lines and when they are done, assuming their job has finished, skuddle of the stage. Great actors spend as much time thinking about departing. Great hosts too. Because great hosts like great actors, understand that how you end things like how you begin them, shapes people’s experience, sense of meaning and memory.
Beyond the book
On Priya Parker’s website, various toolkits are provided to prepare for a better gathering. For listeners, Parker also has a podcast that can be used as a resource to learn about how to host meetings or events more successfully.
From our own community, Arne Kittler says: ‘A great book for anyone who cares about being a good host — no matter whether it’s for a private dinner, a conference or many other formats in between. Priya Parker will help you take a more conscious approach to your hosting role.’ You can take a look here, to see what else Arne is recommending.
The Art of Gathering
How We Meet and Why It Matters
by Priya Parker
Why read?
Hours and hours have been wasted at work because I and others attended meetings ‘to be informed’. That should not be a good enough reason to invite someone to a weekly occurrence or even a one-time catch-up. This could be an email. In Parker’s book, ‘The Art of Gathering’, the author looks at how to define a purpose for any kind of gathering and how to be sure the purpose is defined well enough to ensure time is indeed not wasted. Going into a new year and wanting to gather better? Read away and also learn how to invite and close with deeper meaning.
320 pages, Penguin 2019
Get this book here on Amazon!
