Making meetings better?

Discussions of new films, books, television shows, and media indirectly related to magic and magicians. For example, there may be a book on mnemonics or theatrical technique we should know or at least know about.
Charlie Randall
Posts: 41
Joined: May 9th, 2012, 11:34 pm

Making meetings better?

Postby Charlie Randall » September 25th, 2019, 11:53 pm

So in the latest Freakonomics podcast about making meetings better, there's the following exchange. Do you think he meant unbelievably bad or unbelievably good?

If you doubt the legitimacy of Parkinson’s Law, consider this story from a listener named Chad Wiebe. He’s a financial planner in Canada.

Chad WIEBE: So my boss at the time said, “Let’s have a four-hour long meeting,” which is excruciating. So at the end of this planning meeting we had half an hour still to fill. I put my hand up and I said, “You know what, I think it would be really appreciated if we just cut everybody loose a half hour early, let everyone get back to the office a little bit earlier.” And I was met with silence for about 10, 15 seconds before one of my other middle managers piped up and said, “You know what? I just brought in a client who’s a magician.” And so, we hired a magician. For half an hour. It was unbelievable.

Joe Lyons
Posts: 874
Joined: November 13th, 2017, 8:27 am
Favorite Magician: Wonder
Location: Texas

Re: Making meetings better?

Postby Joe Lyons » September 26th, 2019, 8:18 am

Since they’re citing Parkinson’s Law, my guess is a negative connotation.

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erdnasephile
Posts: 4765
Joined: January 17th, 2008, 12:00 pm

Re: Making meetings better?

Postby erdnasephile » September 26th, 2019, 6:31 pm

I hate meetings---so much wasted time. The best idea I've seen was a company-wide policy at an investment firm to hold meetings with everyone standing. Another good idea is the "two pizza" rule at Amazon: https://www.businessinsider.com/amazon- ... ngs-2017-6

Can you imagine being the poor magician who had to try to entertain a group that had already been meeting for 3.5 hours?

Jonathan Townsend
Posts: 8705
Joined: January 17th, 2008, 12:00 pm
Location: Westchester, NY
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Re: Making meetings better?

Postby Jonathan Townsend » September 26th, 2019, 7:11 pm

Believable magic would be a different story. :)
Mundus vult decipi -per Caleb Carr's story Killing Time


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